Buried With Our Past
by alphayamergo
Summary: Sydney and Adrian have had five years of peace, living happily ever after with their adopted son and extended family. And then a spirit experiment goes very wrong, and Sydney wakes up in Russia, seven years earlier. The Alchemists might think they control her, but Sydney's got a family to reunite.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: You know when you mean to write something short and sweet and it turns into a 25K monsters? _Well._**

"Miss Sage? Miss Sage, can you hear me?"

Sydney frowned, blinking her eyes open. Even in her bleary state, she felt a swirl of resentment at the use of her maiden name. It hadn't been uncommon for people to use it in the early days of her marriage as a way of saying that they thought her marriage was illegitimate or an abomination. Sydney rubbed at her eyes, trying to clear her vision so she could identify the voice's source.

A man leaning over her came into focus. She reared back, scuttling away from him and shooting to her feet. The man's cheek was clearly emblazoned with a golden lily.

It had been five years. Five years of peace for her, Adrian and the family they had built. Sydney couldn't say that she'd had no interaction with the Alchemists since she struck her deal with Stanton, but this was something else entirely.

"Where am I?" she demanded. She held out an arm in front of her, keeping space between herself and the Alchemist, ready to use it for spellcasting should there be the need for violence. The room had windows, although they were closed. That ruled out a Re-education facility at least, and the last Sydney had heard, re-education had undergone a large overhaul.

The man raised his arms, palms facing her, in a non-threatening pose. "You passed out during the service. It's been three hours. We were on the verge of calling an ambulance."

"Service?" she asked. She didn't lower her arm, but she suddenly felt less certain about the threat levels she was facing.

"It's Sunday, Miss Sage," said the man, as if it explained everything. Sydney blinked. With the panic beginning to recede, she realised she recognised the Alchemist. His name was Alexei Ivanov, and he had been her immediate superior while she had been working in Saint Petersburg. He had hosted services in his apartment every Sunday for the Alchemists in the city, as the city itself didn't have its own Alchemist facilities.

Perhaps it being Sunday _did_ explain everything to Ivanov. Ivanov's face held no disgust when he looked at her, as all Alchemists' did nowadays. He was acting as if she was just another Alchemist, albeit one that had apparently had a bad fall.

The last thing she remembered was helping Adrian and Sonya experiment with spirit. Adrian rarely did so anymore: he spent all but one month a year on medication. During the summer, he would help Sonya study spirit. There were still high hopes of being able to create a vaccine against the Strigoi, although it remained frustratingly difficult to isolate the spirit in any of the former Strigoi, and Adrian and Sydney stood firm on Declan not being experimented upon.

Today, though, they had been focusing on memory. Rose had mentioned how Avery Lazar had been able to find her feelings for Dimitri and create a scene featuring her greatest desires during that particular spirit battle. It was something they had decided to look into, and Adrian had been practicing on sensing her memories.

But perhaps, instead, he had accidentally trapped Sydney _inside_ her memories instead.

And being 'trapped inside her memories' could mean two things: this was some kind of vision, and Adrian would be pulling her out soon, or that she had literally been dropped back into her past.

It sounded far-fetched, but Sydney had seen magic do some crazy things. Who knew? Maybe her own magic had interacted badly with the spirit magic and caused this.

Sydney took a deep breath. If this wasn't a vision, there was no point burning her bridges just yet. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened, but it's starting to come back to me."

"It's good to see you're starting to feel better, Miss Sage," said Ivanov.

Sydney ignored her skin crawling, and fixed a smile. "Never better."

* * *

Sydney managed to stumble into her studio apartment two hours later. First she'd had to get rid of Ivanov, and then there had been the struggle to remember where her apartment actually _was._ It had been over six years since she had been there last, and it wasn't exactly a place she had many fond memories of.

Her apartment was painfully bare. It was in stark contrast to her home in Maine. It was impossible to have a bare house with a five-year-old, and that wasn't even including all of her and Adrian's possessions: his art supplies, her books stacked everywhere there was space for them, mugs from Pies and Stuff and various holidays, and assorted knick-knacks acquired over the course of five years.

Her apartment, meanwhile, was decorated with basic, Alchemist-assigned furniture, only a few books, and photos of her parents and sisters. Sydney walked over to the photo of her father, and very pointedly placed it face down on the counter. She could put it back up if any Alchemists came calling, but Sydney had no desire to see her father's face in her own house (she couldn't bring herself to call it her _home_ ).

There were dozens of people missing from the collection of photos. Eddie and Jill, Rose and Dimitri, Trey and Angeline: all the members of the family she had forged in spite of the Alchemists. Most prominently, however, was the absence of Adrian and Declan.

Sydney sunk into her tan, Alchemist-approved sofa and buried her head in her hands. Alone in the past. Would she ever see them again? How on earth could Sydney guarantee that the timeline would play out the same, and she would be able to get her husband and son back?

She could play along, but there was still the problem of bread crumbs. She had tried to play along with the Alchemist party line once before, and she had ended up in Re-education, and that had been as an active Alchemist. Now, she had spent five years apart from the Alchemists, with a broken tattoo and her own beliefs – beliefs that were very different from those of the Alchemists. She had no idea if she was capable of hiding them for long enough to let the timeline play out as it had. Sydney hadn't needed to hide her beliefs in years. She was definitely out of practice.

Sydney swallowed, and pushed her hair back and out of her face, desperately grasping for a logical solution to this.

First of all: Sydney had been caught, ultimately, because of Zoe and the incriminating messages on the Love Phone. It was only because of those messages to Adrian and the mentions of Marcus that had ultimately done her in.

Second of all: Re-education remained, to this day, the most horrific thing Sydney had ever experienced. But she _had_ survived. If it all went badly, she would be able to find her way out of re-education, and from there find a way to recreate her relationships, even if she was never able to go to Palm Springs.

Third of all: Sydney had no way out of Russia. She had no way to contact Marcus and knew no one who would be able to get her fake IDs and passports herself. If she fled the Alchemists now, it would be simple for them to trace her route out of Russia and apprehend her. If nothing else, Sydney had to play along until she was reassigned to New Orleans.

It left her with one choice, ultimately. She had to be an Alchemist again. She would be the perfect Alchemist until she got back to the USA, and if she thought she could get away with it, she would remain an Alchemist until she joined her friends in Palm Springs and rebuilt her relationships with them.

There was still one problem, however. Presuming that she managed to get all the way through the timeline without disturbing it – and that was still a very big 'if' – what did she do about Olive? Sydney could already feel Declan's absence like a hole in her chest, but in order for her to gain guardianship, Olive had to die, when Sydney knew how to save her. Could Sydney really let a woman die so she could raise Declan?

But on the other hand – was Sydney capable of watching someone else raise Declan?

Sydney pressed her fist against her mouth, trying to suppress her sob. She couldn't find a logical way through this. It was almost certain that she would lose Declan in this.

She wished Adrian was there. He'd know what to say. Maybe he would even see some way through this that she couldn't.

* * *

Just because Sydney had decided to stay with the Alchemists for now didn't mean that she was abandoning all of her beliefs.

Two days after Sydney found herself in the past, she walked into a casino, and started counting cards. It took her a month, but at last she managed to save enough to go to a jeweller. A week later, Sydney had two rings that were identical to her engagement and wedding rings.

They weren't something she could wear on her finger. The Alchemists would pick up on the sudden appearance of rings and ask questions that she couldn't answer. Sydney could, however, wear them on a long chain around her neck, letting them sit under her shirt and next to her heart. It wasn't much, but it made her feel closer to Adrian.

She hadn't even risked looking him up on the Alchemist database. She refused to leave a trail of bread crumbs just because she wanted to see Adrian's face. The rings, however, would be safe enough, she hoped. She hadn't used any Alchemist funds for them, and had, rather nostalgically, used the fake name Misty Steele at the jewellers. There wasn't a paper trail for the Alchemists to follow, and Sydney would be careful to keep them under her shirt at all times. Even if the Alchemists did find the rings, there was no way they could guess that they were from her relationship with a Moroi that wasn't due to start for another year.

Sydney wished that she had something of Declan's that she could hold on to. His birthday had been the most difficult day since finding herself in the past. She hadn't found the energy to leave her bed, let alone her apartment. She had spent the day curled up in her bed, desperately wishing that she'd hear a tiny voice demanding to know why she was still in bed on _his birthday, come on mum, it's time for presents!_

There was no keepsake she could recreate for Declan. Her rings would have to do.

She could feel the rings resting against her heart as she went to the Alchemist services each Sunday, felt the cool metal against her skin each time she met a dhampir or Moroi on business and had to fix that careful Alchemist mask.

"You're doing well, Miss Sage," Ivanov said to her before one service. "I'll tell your father about your admirable progress. I'm sure he will be pleased."

Sydney gave him a perfect, Alchemist smile. "I'm just doing my duty, sir." She kept her hands carefully by her side, not letting them stray towards her rings.

"As we should all strive to do," said Ivanov approvingly. He left her and went to the front of the room to start the service. Sydney made sure her face remained attentive throughout the sermon, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as the weeks went by.

It wasn't as if Sydney didn't believe in much of the Alchemist doctrine. Everyone who was a part of the supernatural world, even reluctantly as the Alchemists were, knew that the Strigoi needed to be ended, and the terrible effects that the temptation of eternal life could have on humans. Sydney couldn't fault their desire to keep their worlds separate.

It was the other things Sydney disagreed with. Dhampirs and Moroi weren't unnatural or wicked. There was only one divide that really mattered: the divide between the living and the dead. The Alchemists, however, didn't see it that way. They might add that the Moroi were allies in the battle against the Strigoi as an afterthought in the services, but Sydney had been through re-education, and knew how the Alchemists were meant to feel towards the Moroi.

She remembered Adrian, his soothing presence always urging her to be brave; Jill, poised and confident and supportive; Eddie, a pillar of strength in hard times. They were her people. They weren't abominations.

She was startled out of her ruminations as the sermon took an unexpected turn. "Early this morning, I received news from our colleagues in the USA," said Ivanov. Sydney jerked upright and tried to remember the date. "There has been a major Strigoi attack on one of the Moroi schools." Sydney swallowed. There was no way any of her actions could have affected Saint Vladimir's, but was that enough? Was who lived and who died in such an attack a matter of chance? Even if it _was_ a matter of chance, would anything change, just because it was a new timeline?

"We have yet to receive any casualty figures, but it demonstrates the power of the Strigoi and the need for constant vigilance against the darkness," said Ivanov. Sydney leant back into her seat, and prayed for her friends.

* * *

"You know, Dad's starting to show me a couple of Alchemist things," said Zoe through the phone, the excitement in her voice betraying the casualness she was trying to portray. "He says it can't hurt to have more Alchemists, and since he's getting so many good reports about you…"

Sydney went tense, her right hand going to twist at her wedding ring. Since finding herself in the past, her relationship with her sisters had been better than they had been in years – especially with Zoe. Zoe and Carly had loved her, but largely from a distance. They had been raised in an Alchemist household, and a Moroi brother-in-law had been difficult for them to get past.

But Sydney had been talking to her sisters regularly for the past several weeks. There hadn't been any barriers on her sisters' ends. This, however, was probably going to put one back up.

Sydney searched for the right words. "Is he planning on getting you tattooed?" she asked, keeping her voice carefully even.

"I don't know yet," said Zoe, and Sydney could picture her shrugging. "Maybe."

It was ironic: last time, their father had started training Zoe because Sydney kept getting herself into trouble and interacting with the Moroi. This time, it was because Sydney was being too good an Alchemist.

Sydney pressed her lips together. Zoe had been one of the Alchemists most vocally pushing for change in the aftermath of Jill's rescue. She had fought against re-education and had spoken against the secretive nature of the organisation that had allowed people like Keith or their father to run their operations in the shadows. Sydney had been so, so proud of her – but Zoe had still been an Alchemist.

Sydney could feel herself chafing at the Alchemist life at every turn. She would save Zoe from this, if she could.

"Have you heard from Carly lately?" asked Sydney, keeping her voice casual. "She sounds like she's having a great time at college.

"Yeah," said Zoe. "She seems a lot happier now that she's moved out."

Sydney bit her lip. She knew exactly why Carly had improved so much upon getting away from Jared Sage and his ceaseless praise for Keith Darnell. She lowered her voice instead, like she was telling Zoe a secret. "I still kind of wish that I could have gone to college instead. I would have loved to study ancient art." Well, she _had_ studied ancient art, but no one in this time knew it. It had been every bit as wonderful as she had always imagined. "What are you going to study?" Make it sound like she wanted to live vicariously through her sisters – it wouldn't be suspicious to Zoe, but maybe her questions might eventually encourage Zoe to have dreams separate from the Alchemists.

Zoe was silent for a long time, and Sydney almost spoke again, ready to change the subject into something a little less incriminating. But Zoe beat her to it: "Archaeology," she said, softly.

It wasn't really a surprise. All of the Sage girls had loved classicism, and Zoe was fairly scientifically inclined, even without her investment in the Alchemists. Archaeology would be a good fit for her.

"Sounds pretty great," said Sydney, leaning back in her chair. It was a relief to hear that the Alchemists didn't own Zoe entirely – not yet, at least.

* * *

"Have any casualty lists come through yet?" she asked Ivanov the next Sunday, keeping her voice casual as she could.

"I believe that the numbers are presently at eleven Moroi and fourteen dhampirs," replied Ivanov. "Dozens of Strigoi. And of course there have been countless injuries, but their spirit users have dealt with the worst of those." There was a note of disgust in his voice as he said the word 'spirit'. That a vampire was able to heal people, even restore people to life, went against so many Alchemist beliefs. Healing like that had once been considered miracles, the work of saints and prophets and messiahs. That an evil creature of the night was capable of it grated.

Sydney tried not to bristle at Ivanov's tone. It wasn't like Ivanov was disparaging Adrian specifically, so much as spirit users in general. And Sydney wasn't supposed to know or care about _any_ vampires, let alone a spirit user she hadn't met yet. She hoped any irritation that showed up in her expression would be passed off as disgust over the use of spirit, rather than caused by Ivanov. Sydney didn't think that she had left any breadcrumbs, and that alone wouldn't be enough to send her off to re-education, but she could hardly be too careful.

Still. The numbers for the attack seemed too low for one of that scale. She tried to remember the casualties from last time round. The Saint Vladimir's attack was still being commemorated years later, but it wasn't an event she had visited regularly, nor an attack she had thought about regularly. Even her memory had its limits.

She sighed. Short of directly asking for a casualty list, which would raise too many questions, she had no way of knowing if any of her friends had been killed.

"Are you alright, Miss Sage?" asked Ivanov. He had been about to move off to start the service, but had stopped upon noticing Sydney's side.

Sydney plastered a neutral expression on her face. "It's worrying to think about – that many Strigoi working in one group. It just makes our job that much harder."

"That it does," agreed Ivanov. "But it also makes it all the more important. With so many Strigoi working in tandem and moving together, it raises the likelihood of one being noticed. We can't allow for them to interact so directly with the human world." He gave a barely noticeable shudder and drew a cross on his left shoulder, the sign against evil.

"Agreed," said Sydney. Interacting with and living alongside Moroi was one thing; serving the Strigoi was another. The Moroi were _alive_ : they had souls and were just as capable of love and laughter and beauty as humans were. Strigoi were none of those things. They represented the corruption of all good things, creating a mockery of life. There was no way to live with them. One could only serve them, in hopes of being made a Strigoi themselves one day – presuming they didn't eat you first.

Ivanov watched her for a moment more, his eyebrows knit together and eyes worried. She offered a reassuring smile. He turned at last and Sydney kept the smile until he had made his way to the pulpit and began to speak.

* * *

Sydney started keeping an eye out for signs of Rose a few weeks after news of the attack on Saint Vlaidmir's came. The first time a Strigoi body was left in the open without any call to the Alchemists, Sydney headed to the Nightingale and searched for Rose.

She was sitting in the corner, hair tied up into a fancy bun and in a black cocktail dress. Sydney made a point of inspecting her from a distance before she approached and sat down opposite Rose.

"So, I'm guessing you're the one leaving Strigoi bodies across the city," she said, crossing her arms on the table.

Rose reared back. "What do you know about the Strigoi?"

"I'm an Alchemist," said Sydney, more patiently that she had last time round. "Look, I know it wasn't of the usual dhampirs in the city, since they're all pretty good about calling us. You, however, are new."

Rose still looked suspicious. "Who _are_ you?"

"Sydney Sage. I'm an Alchemist. We cover up for vampires in the human world so that no humans can be tempted towards immortality."

Rose's eyes had flown wide and her mouth had dropped open as soon as Sydney started talking. Sydney furrowed her brows, confused. Sydney couldn't remember Rose reacting quite that strongly to her news last time.

"Did you say your name was Sydney Sage?" asked Rose, flicking her gaze over Sydney.

Sydney frowned. "Yes. Why?"

Rose shut her mouth. "No reason." Rose wasn't a great liar, and wouldn't improve much in the next seven years. Sydney almost opened her mouth to argue the point, but Rose had already moved on. "What do you mean, 'cover up'?"

"We use alchemy to dissolve Strigoi bodies when the dhampirs take them out, and if something's ever found, we have connections to a lot of high-ranking people in both the Moroi and human worlds. So if something ever gets out, we can usually pay someone off to make it go away," explained Sydney.

"You have connections in the Moroi world?" asked Rose, and Sydney nodded. She already knew what was coming; she could remember this well enough from last time. "I'm looking for this village – of dhampirs – in Siberia. It's near, um, Om?"

"Omsk," corrected Sydney automatically.

"You know it!" exclaimed Rose, sitting up straighter. "I need to go there."

Sydney stood up. "I'll be right back," she said, making her way outside into the quiet. She was already certain she was going, but that didn't mean she didn't have steps to follow, no matter how reluctant she might be to do so.

She took a deep breath, and called Abe.

"Well, if it isn't my favourite Alchemist," said Abe when he picked up. Sydney could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

"I found Rose Hathaway," she said shortly. "She's looking for a village in Siberia."

"Absolutely not," snapped Abe. "She should be on a plane back home immediately."

Sydney rolled her eyes. Now that she knew the truth, it was painfully obvious why Abe was so invested in Rose's safety. "Look, I might not know her well, but she doesn't seem like the kind of person who's easily turned off her goal," she told Abe. The only part of that sentence was a lie was Sydney not knowing Rose well.

"Then keep an eye on her," directed Abe. "I'll convince her."

Sydney bristled at the order. For her, it had been half a decade since she had paid her debt off. For Abe, it was a debt still very much in play. Sydney had been silently following orders for a month and a half at this point, and she certainly didn't appreciate another person bossing her around.

She gritted her teeth. Even if Abe was ordering her now, this was a decision she had already made for herself. "Understood," she said, and hung up. Next, she rang Ivanov.

"Sir, I found the dhampir dropping Strigoi," she informed him. "She didn't know about Alchemists. She's looking for a dhampir town in Siberia." Sydney made a show of hesitating and taking a deep breathe that could be heard over the phone. "With your permission, I think I should go with her."

"Why is that, Miss Sage?" asked Ivanov.

"Hathaway doesn't know about Alchemists," said Sydney. "The chances of her contacting one of us if she causes any more trouble is slim to none. If I accompany her, I can see her straight to the village without any trouble and pre-emptively prevent any extra work for the Alchemists."

Ivanov was silent on the other end. Sydney's heart hammered in her chest. She'd been allowed this last time, but it was possible that she had left too many breadcrumbs. "That is very brave of you, Miss Sage," said Ivanov at last. "Very proactive. Very well." Sydney grinned and thanked him before hanging up on him, too.

She had to get her smile under control before going back into Rose. "I know the village," said Sydney, sitting back down. "But I won't tell you where it is. I'll be taking you there."

* * *

It wasn't until late that night that Sydney had another chance to think about Rose's reaction to her name.

Rose was already curled up on Sydney's couch, eyes closed. Sydney wasn't completely certain that Rose was asleep, but she was still unwilling to check.

Why _had_ Rose been so surprised at her name? It wasn't like she had heard it before – unless she had.

But Rose couldn't have come back as well. Rose would have reacted the moment she saw Sydney. So that left three options: Dimitri, Sonya, or Adrian. They had been the only other people in the room when she'd been thrown back in time. If anyone else had been affected, it would have been them.

She wondered, briefly, what would have happened to Sonya if she was sent back: would she have returned to her Strigoi state, or had her body restored at the point she was sent back, or would she be a Strigoi with a soul? It didn't matter either way, Sydney supposed. If she was still a Strigoi, Rose wouldn't have heard Sydney's name, and if she'd been restored, Sydney would have heard about it.

If it was Dimitri who had been sent back, it would be equally useless, as Rose's presence in Russia meant that Dimitri must have been turned. But Sydney doubted that it had been Dimitri, for he surely would have prevented himself being turned if he had been returned.

That left only one option. Sydney almost didn't dare to think it.

Adrian had managed to keep the same phone number in all the years she had known him. She doubted that he would have changed it in the year before she met him.

 _The centre will hold_ , she wrote, and sent it before she could think twice.

There wasn't a quick reply, and Sydney couldn't really have expected one. It was the middle of the American day, and thus the middle of the American Moroi's night. Adrian would be asleep.

But she still felt too jittery to sleep. Once upon a time, the first time she had shared a room with Rose, she hadn't been able to sleep, or even stay in the same room, with the dhampir. Rose had been another faceless creature of the night, a subversion of the world's natural order, and a dangerous symbol of what could happen if the vampire and human worlds were to cross paths again.

Tonight, however, it was for a different reason entirely. Rose was her friend (although she wasn't Rose's, not yet), and Sydney couldn't sleep because of the swirling mix of anticipation, anxiety and excitement. Sydney couldn't help tapping the side of the bed, unable to keep the excess energy in.

"Will you _please_ be _quiet_ ," mumbled Rose, turning over in her bed and shoving a pillow over her ears.

"Sorry," whispered Sydney. She took out a book and began to read, trying not to think about Adrian. It was a lost cause, however, and after an hour, Sydney was forced to admit defeat and put the book down. She checked her phone: time was inching onwards, far too slowly for Sydney's taste, and her inbox remained stubbornly empty.

Her phone dinged three hours later, and Sydney almost fell out of bed in her haste to get to it. She read the text and clutched the phone to her chest, feeling her heart swell.

 _Because we are the centre._


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Working out a timeline for this was _rough_ , okay, but this chapter begins a few days before the start of Shadowkiss. It ends a a few weeks before the start of Blood Promise in canon, because Sydney picks Rose up a lot earlier in the new timeline.**

Adrian woke to a very young, very unimpressed Rose Hathaway standing over him.

He groaned, rubbing at his head. "What just happened?"

Rose crossed her arms. "You tell me. We were talking and you keeled over on me." There was some worry in her face, largely hidden behind her show of irritation.

Adrian didn't remember talking to Rose. The last he remembered, he'd been staring into Sydney's rather beautiful eyes, trying to find some not-so-beautiful memories. He had been resting his hand on her temple, and she had leaned into it, having complete faith in him.

Rose _had_ been in the room, but she had been busy with Dimitri at the time. Adrian wasn't sure that the situation could be described as them having a conversation, but if Rose wanted to, he wouldn't protest.

"Where is everyone else?" he asked, pushing himself into a sitting position. Rose raised an eyebrow at him, so he sighed and elaborated: "Sydney. Dimitri. Sonya." Rose's eyebrows had been rising further with every name.

"Sydney? Sonya?" Rose's voice was blank, and her face showed no recognition. Adrian realised suddenly how very _young_ she looked. He had noticed it since he woke up, but it only fully clicked into place then.

"Oh God. What year is it?"

Rose's expression returned to unimpressed. "2006. What the hell, Adrian?"

Adrian scrubbed at his face, blinking away the last of the bleariness. "Can you get Lissa and meet me at my rooms? I think I've done something really crazy with spirit."

* * *

There was a knock on the door only five minutes after Adrian found his old accommodations at Saint Vladimir's. He blinked at the door, surprised: he hadn't thought it had taken him _that_ long to find his room.

It was not, however, Rose and Lissa at his door. It was Jill, looking younger than Adrian had ever known her, eyes wide and face pale. She flung her arms around him and clung on.

"What happened, Adrian?" she asked, not moving from her position. Adrian managed to manoeuvre the door shut with one arm and hugged her back with the other.

"Question of the year," he muttered. "How are you – the bond. The bond brought you back with me."

"I woke up in class," explained Jill. "The teacher sent me to the infirmary, but I ran instead. To you."

"We'll figure this out, Jailbait. We might have to let a few people know about the bond, though," he mused. "I already asked Rose to bring Lissa here. They can know the full story."

Jill nodded. "I already saw." She pulled back, finally, but still kept her hands on his shoulders. Adrian, too, found himself reluctant to let go of Jill. She was his only connection to his reality (time?) – the only proof that he hadn't just made up the next seven years, or that he hadn't accidentally dreamed himself back into his memories.

There was another knock on the door, and Adrian and Jill released each other at last so Adrian could open the door for Rose and Lissa. Lissa looked confused and a little worried as she entered the room.

Rose's gaze caught on Jill. "Hello," she said, shooting Adrian a sharp look.

Jill smiled at them, barely disguising the turmoil that Adrian knew was still going on within her. "I'm Jill Mastrano. I'm here for the same reason as Adrian." Lissa glanced between them surprise written all over her face.

"That wording wasn't ambiguous at all, Jailbait," grumbled Adrian. "Now they think you're a spirit user."

"I'm not," Jill clarified immediately. "I specialised in water." To prove her point, she drew some water from Adrian's sink and shaped it into a ball, before letting it spill back into the sink. "Adrian's the spirit user, so he can explain what's going on."

Rose and Lissa turned to him, faces expectant. "Throw me under a bus, fine," he muttered. Jill looked unrepentant, and even _smirked_ at him. "Okay, so. This is going to sound insane. I may have accidentally travelled backwards in time. Jill got pulled back with me because she's bonded to me."

Lissa gaped at him, while Rose snorted. Disbelief was evident on both their faces. "Alright, Adrian," said Rose, crossing her arms and leaning back a little. "I'll bite. How far did you come back?"

"Seven-ish years?" said Jill. She pushed her hair back from her face and glanced over at Adrian uncertainly. "I ran straight here when I woke up. I didn't check any dates, but since Adrian's here on campus…"

"Based off the weather and -" Adrian broke off and glanced at Rose. Jill looked understanding and Lissa and Rose seemed more confused. "Well, I'd say it's probably some time in early spring."

" _Oh-_ kay," said Rose. "Have you two got any evidence?"

Adrian glanced at Jill, who shrugged. He paused for a moment, tapping his fingers against his leg. "Have your field assignments been announced?" he asked. Rose and Lissa both shook their heads in response. "Okay, then. Rose is going to be assigned to Christian, because they wanted you to have experience guarding someone without the bond, I think. Eddie got assigned to Lissa."

Rose actually laughed. "You almost had me going then," she said. "Come on, Liss." Lissa was studying Adrian curiously, and he suspected that she hadn't dismissed him as Rose had. Nonetheless, she still followed Rose out.

Jill sunk down on to Adrian's couch, rubbing at her eyes. "They'll believe you once the assignments come through," she said. "I don't know how we'll convince any of the others, though." Adrian could tell she was thinking of Eddie: twenty minutes ago, he had been her fiancé, and now he was a teenaged stranger to her.

Adrian, meanwhile, thought of Sydney. If he was to somehow run into her tomorrow, she wouldn't even be able to stay in the same room as him. Everything he'd treasured with her for the past five years – their marriage, their son, the life that they had built together – would be an abomination in her eyes. He sat down next to Jill, and she leant against his shoulder.

"We'll get them back," she promised. "We will."

He leant his head on top of hers. "If you say so, Jill."

* * *

Rose sat on the bleachers even as the rest of the novices shuffled out, her assignment still ringing in her ears.

Christian Ozera. She was assigned to Christian. Adrian had been right on both counts.

How had Adrian been right?

She leapt to her feet and ran down the stairs, grabbing hold of Dimitri's arm. Alberta gave Dimitri a pitying look as she moved away. Rose ignored her and focused entirely on Dimitri.

"Is there a way Adrian could have known who I was assigned to?" she demanded.

Dimitri blinked. "Adrian Ivashkov?"

"Do you know of any other Adrian's around here?" she exclaimed. She ran a hand through the ends of her ponytail, tugging at it nervously.

"I had responses lined up to every argument you could have made, but I did not expect this," muttered Dimitri. "Not that I'm aware of. The teachers know, but I don't see why any of them would have mentioned it to him."

How was this possible? Spirit could do some insane stuff, but _time travel_ was going a bit further than Rose was willing to accept.

Maybe there was something in the water at the moment. That would explain Adrian's claims and Mason's ghost.

Dimitri's eyes were worried. "What's going on, Rose?"

She sighed and dropped her hands to her sides. "A couple of days ago, Adrian just – passed out. And when he woke up, he was claiming that he'd accidentally travelled back in time. Me being assigned to Christian was the proof he gave."

Dimitri raised an eyebrow. "That seems like a rather – unbelievable – story."

Relief poured through Rose. She hadn't been unreasonable by not believing Adrian. "I know!" she exclaimed. "I know. I didn't believe him at all. He had this girl in on it, too: Jill. But if he got this right…" She wrung her hands together. So much of spirit was still a mystery to them. What if this _was_ possible?

"I don't see how he could have found out, but I'll look into it," promised Dimitri. Rose slumped, feeling some of the anxious energy leave her.

"Thanks, Comrade," she said, trying for a smile. She must have succeeded, because Dimitri's expression eased a little.

"Any time, Rose," he said, softly. She tossed a grin over her shoulder at him as she set out to find Christian.

* * *

Rose turned up at Adrian's door, with Lissa, Christian and Eddie in tow four days later. Adrian let them in with a worried glance at Jill, who seemed to be busy attempting to melt into the couch rather than look at Eddie.

"Look, I didn't believe you, but I got Dimitri to check and we can't work out how you could have known about the assignments, so we're willing to hear you out," said Rose. As an after-thought, she added, "I hope you don't mind bringing Eddie and Christian in to this, but he can't leave Lissa and I can't leave Christian at the moment."

Adrian looked at Jill again. _Are you ready for this?_ he thought as loudly as he could. She nodded at him. "Castile's fine," he said to the others. "We were going to bring him in eventually, and what Lissa knows, Christian knows, so."

"Bring us in on what?" asked Eddie, glancing around from him, to Rose and Lissa, to Jill, who couldn't meet his gaze.

"The mysteries of spirit," said Adrian, grandly, waving his hands in a mystical manner. Five years of domesticity had not done away with his love for theatrics; in fact, having to entertain a five-year-old had just made it considerably worse.

Adrian set his jaw, and did not think of Declan.

Christian snorted loudly, and Adrian pointed at him. "Hey, don't knock me before you hear the story." He began to fill Christian and Eddie in on the situation.

After he was finished, Eddie looked to Rose. "Do you believe this?" Rose nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"What do you want to do about it?" asked Lissa. Her gaze was gentle as she looked from Adrian to Jill. Adrian suspected that she was the first to recognise the red rims of Jill's eyes, Adrian's sudden drops into melancholy and depression when he thought of Sydney and Declan.

"We should save what lives we can," said Jill, quietly. "We can warn the guardians about the attack."

"We could work on getting the family law changed earlier, too," said Adrian, thoughtfully.

"No!" Jill's voice was strong, and the other four looked surprised at her ferocity. "If we get it changed any earlier, you won't ever meet Sydney. I survived the last time around. I can do it again."

"You mentioned Sydney when you woke up," noted Rose when he didn't reply immediately. "Who is she?"

"Sydney Sage. My wife," said Adrian, without hesitation. Honestly, it probably would have been smarter if he'd lied. If she and the other three found out that she was a human, without any further knowledge of their relationship, they would probably be disgusted, and he and Jill were going to need as many people on side as they could if they set out to change the future. But Adrian had spent years refusing to be anything but proud about his marriage. No matter what prejudices existed in their world, he knew that what he and Sydney had was special. That wasn't going to change just because he was in the past.

Rose gaped openly. Lissa and Christian were a little more restrained, but still were unable to fully hide their shock. Even if all three had managed to maintain perfect poker faces, he still would have been able to read it in their auras. Eddie reacted the least, which was no surprise: at this point, he and Eddie barely knew each other.

Jill smiled at their reactions, and slid off the couch to stand next to him. She looked brighter, now, and was standing straighter than he'd seen since they arrived back in the past. She still didn't quite look Eddie in the eyes, but her brief outburst seemed to have returned her strength to her. "We should stop the attack," she repeated.

Adrian hummed. "I can talk to my aunt when we go to the trial about getting more guardians posted here," he said, thoughtfully. "Hell if I know how I'll convince her, though."

"What attack?" asked Eddie. He'd shifted into guardian mode at its mention. It was a familiar stance on him.

Adrian and Jill shared a look. "How about we all sit down and we can go through the important points?" he asked. "It's going to be a long afternoon."

* * *

"Lissa? I need to talk to you before you go."

Lissa stopped and turned around, casting quick, questioning glances at Christian and Rose as if they might know why Jill wanted to speak to her. Jill brushed a strand of her back out of her face, trying to keep her nerves under control.

She and Lissa had made a lot of progress over the years. They weren't exactly _sisterly_ , even after all this time, but they were friends. Lissa no longer looked at Jill as evidence of her father's infidelity, and Jill no longer looked at Lissa like she was the reason for all the danger Jill had ever been in. Now Jill was back to square one.

"You want me to go, Jailbait?" asked Adrian, who actually did know Jill's reasons.

Jill forced a smile. "I'll be fine." Adrian raised his eyebrows and she nodded, so he followed the others out of the room without further protest.

"What's wrong?" asked Lissa, leaning against the counter. She looked confused and perhaps a little worried. Jill thought worry was probably inevitable when you were asked to have a private conversation with a time traveller.

"You heard Adrian mention changing the family law," started Jill. She paused and took a deep breath. Lissa cocked her head a little, not understanding where Jill was going. "It's an old, archaic law that states there needs to be at least two members to a royal family for a prince or princess to sit on the council or be crowned the monarch."

Lissa's eyes narrowed. Her mouth had opened slightly. "And you said that you survived last time," she said, almost to herself. She took a step back. " _No._ "

"I'm sorry, Lissa. I know this can't be easy to hear."

"My father would _never_ ," said Lissa, her pitch rising rapidly. "He loved my mother!"

Jill remained silent. That wasn't something she could explain. She couldn't imagine carrying on affairs behind the back of the one you loved. Jill had never so much as considered cheating on Eddie. However, Eric Dragomir evidently had, as by all accounts, he had been very much in love with Lissa's mother.

"Daniella Ivashkov helped with the cover up," said Jill at last. "You could ask for Adrian's help in getting it out of her." Lissa slumped at Jill's words, the anger going out of her.

"I don't understand how he could have done that," she whispered. Jill didn't think that the words were meant for Jill.

The door was shoved open roughly, and Rose came hurrying through it. She went straight to Lissa's side, wrapping an arm around Lissa's shoulders. "I asked Adrian," said Rose. "He confirmed it."

Lissa looked at Rose, focusing on her face. "You saw?"

Rose nodded. "Sorry. Your emotions were too strong." Lissa nodded and leant her head against Rose's shoulder. "Let's get you out of here," said Rose, casting an apologetic glance at Jill. Jill shrugged in response; it could have gone worse.

* * *

Four days later, Adrian first stirred from his bed to the sound of his door being kicked open.

He made no effort to make himself look presentable as he pushed himself up and headed for the door. He had little interest in what was happening, but if a door was being kicked open, it was probably important, right?

He didn't even have time to register what was occurring before a small blur of brown hair had thrown her arms around him. Adrian leaned into Jill's embrace instinctively. She wasn't as tall as she one day would be, so he couldn't rest his head against her shoulder, but he tried to take strength from her.

"Jill said – she said you needed help," said Rose, faintly, and Adrian looked up from Jill and noticed Rose and Christian at last. They both looked alarmed at the state of his appearance.

"You shouldn't be alone today," said Jill in a firm voice. She started to push him towards the couch. "I tried to get in earlier, but you didn't hear me."

"Don't you have classes?" he asked. It was the first thing he had to focus on that wasn't Declan.

Today was Declan's birthday. It wasn't, really, not least because Declan hadn't been born yet – but it was the day they had celebrated it on in an attempt to keep people from suspecting his true heritage.

Declan's birthday was usually spent with Jill, Eddie, Trey, Angeline, Rose, Dimitri, and even Christian and Lissa if it could be pulled off. Declan would wake him and Sydney up at the crack of dawn with demands of presents and cake, bright and bossy in a way that he only was on birthdays and Christmas. Sydney and Adrian always arranged to have the day at home with Declan and the rest of their extended family.

But not today. Today, Adrian was alone. Declan didn't even exist yet. Sydney was still an Alchemist, working a thankless job in Russia, and loathed any and all vampires. Of all their family and friends, some didn't even know Adrian existed, and the others were just – _young_. Too young.

"Classes can wait," said Jill. She seemed to be making him some kind of warm drink at the counter. "I've already learnt all of this before. It's awful. Now I know how Eddie felt at Amberwood. Not Sydney, though. She was always a nerd." There was fondness in Jill's voice, and Adrian knew that she was trying to make him laugh by rambling and affectionate teasing of Sydney. It might have worked better if Sydney was actually _there_.

Rose looked sharply over at Jill. Adrian almost winced. He and Jill had decided to remain vague on the details of the others' life stories, but in her quest to cheer Adrian up, Jill had either forgotten or decided to ignore it.

"She reads these kids' history books to Declan for bed time stories," Adrian managed to say. He darkened a little. "Read, I mean."

"Yeah, I remember when she was playing Lego with him and built a Lego Pantheon," said Jill. She handed him a mug of cocoa and sat next to him. Her eyes were wide and worried as she looked at him.

Rose and Christian exchanged a glance and sat down across from them. "Who's Declan?" asked Rose, her voice soft.

"My son," said Adrian, almost too softly to hear. He cleared his throat. "He'd be five today." Well. Five-and-a-half. But no one needed to hear that detail.

"I'm sorry, Adrian," said Christian, quietly. Both he and Rose were looking at Adrian like they were re-evaluating him entirely. Adrian could certainly understand why; it was one thing to be told that Adrian was from the future, but another thing entirely to see the impact that it could have on a person. Not to mention, the Adrian Ivashkov they had known only a week ago had been nowhere near ready for children.

Jill rubbed at his arm, and he slid it around her shoulders. She leant against him with a sigh. "I miss them, too."

* * *

Adrian had, to be perfectly honest, forgotten about Rose's ghost-seeing escapades entirely until her migraine on the way to Court. Jill never saw them, seeing as she had never killed anyone (Strigoi or otherwise), so it was an easy thing to slip his mind.

"Rose," he called as the others began to split up for their respective rooms. She looked mildly bemused at the summons but approached anyway. Adrian noticed Dimitri's disapproving stare as he and Rose walked away, and barely resisted laughter.

"What's up?" she asked. She looked better than she had done on the flight: her face was clear and she looked calm, if worried. The Court's wards were working wonders for her.

"The ghosts are real." No point beating around the bush here, Adrian thought.

Rose gaped at him. "How do you know about - " She broke off when he raised his eyes. "Alright, fine. Why can I see him?"

Adrian shrugged. "You're shadow-kissed. You're closer to death than anyone else, even Jill – you only got closer to it after Spokane."

Rose's lips parted slightly as things started to slot into place in her head. "You mentioned that the wards at the academy were weak," she recalled. "That's how he's getting through? So I won't see him while we're here?"

"Nope. There's going to be a storm on the way back and we'll have to land at a human airport, though, and it got really bad there." Adrian rubbed at the back of his neck, remembering it. It had been terrifying: as soon as the plane had touched down, Rose had exploded into screams, and hadn't stopped until she passed out. Nobody had any idea what was happening to her, only adding to the fear. "You might want to prepare yourself for that."

Rose nodded, wiping her hands on her hips. "Can you tell me how the trial will go?" she asked. "Please. It's tomorrow. It's not like you're telling me a big secret from years in the future."

Adrian hesitated, but Rose looked desperate. He hadn't known Rose and Lissa when Victor Dashkov had been stalking Lissa for her powers, but he remembered – and had seen again, over the past week – the effects that it had had on Lissa. On them both, even. "He's found guilty," he said, and Rose heaved a sigh of relief. He decided that it was probably best that he didn't mention that Rose would be breaking him out of prison within the year.

He paused at the thought. Rose might not even _have_ to break him out of prison this time around. All the information that Dashkov had ever given them was safely contained in Adrian's own head, and between himself and Lissa – and eventually, hopefully, Sonya and Nina – they hardly needed Robert Doru.

Rose straightened up. "Thank you, Adrian," she said. She paused for a moment. "You're really different now. You're kind of more – settled, I guess. And you haven't called me little dhampir since you woke up."

Adrian shrugged. "Seven years will do that to a man," he said. "I only called you little dhampir because I liked you, and – well. I'm happily married."

Rose pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Do you think that everything you talked about is still going to happen? Your marriage, and - " she faltered a little. Adrian and Jill had admitted that she, Eddie, Lissa and Christian were all happy in the future, even if they had refused to provide any other details, and it was clear she was thinking of that. "And the other stuff."

Adrian pressed his lips together. "I have to," he said simply.

* * *

Adrian had once spent months with an apparition of Aunt Tatiana taunting him, so seeing the real thing for the first time he'd found himself in the past was – _difficult._

"Adrian," she greeted, a fond smile curling at her lips. Something ached deep inside Adrian. This was the Tatiana Ivashkov that no one else remembered in his future: the kind, supportive aunt who had loved Adrian more than most in his family.

He wished Sydney was here, even though he doubted that Aunt Tatiana would have ever approved of their relationship. Sydney would have taken his hand and squeezed it, so that he knew he wasn't alone in facing his ghosts.

Instead, it was only Lissa beside him. Well, was going to be beside him; she hadn't arrived yet. Adrian loved Lissa – she was one of his closest friends, both now and in the future. But Lissa had her own problems to be dealing with. He might also have the other Dragomir sister, but that was the kind of support he couldn't appreciate in the moment.

 _You there, Jailbait?_ he thought in the general direction of the bond. She was probably in classes back at the Academy, but that didn't mean she was paying attention. There was a good chance Jill had decided Adrian's escapades at Court would be more interesting.

"It's good to see you again," said Adrian, trying at a smile. Based off the worry and surprise that flitted through his aunt's expression, he hadn't succeeded. She probably thought that it was the spirit darkness bothering him. Adrian had actually put himself back on medication as soon as he and Jill realised they had no way back to the future. The emotions roiling inside him were all his own.

Adrian was spared further interaction by a guardian entering with Lissa. The conversation proceeded much as he remembered from the first time round. Adrian let himself drift out, focusing on his aunt.

The phantom of Aunt Tatiana still followed him, occasionally, when he was off his medication. But between the unwavering support of Sydney and Jill, and his regular visits to a therapist whenever he was using spirit, the worst of spirit's effects had been kept at bay.

Seeing the real Tatiana again was something else entirely. The hallucination can't begin to compare. The phantom was a representation of all of sprit's negative effects, focused entirely on Adrian and his insecurities. Aunt Tatiana? She was the queen of the Moroi, and watching her negotiate with Lissa reminded him that the real Tatiana had a good deal more on her plate than just Adrian.

And even when she was dealing with just Adrian, she reacted as she had earlier: with concern and love, not the encouragement of all his worst traits.

Tatiana's conversation with Lissa came to an end, and Aunt Tatiana turned to Adrian as Lissa was ushered towards the door. Lissa shot Adrian a worried, sympathetic glance and he waved her away. He could do this. Priscilla Voda also made her exit, with some of the guardians following her out.

"Now," said Tatiana, "what exactly has gotten into you?" Her posture had relaxed a little, the queen giving way to the concerned aunt.

Adrian smirked bitterly. "It is a _very_ long story, and you wouldn't believe half of it."

Tatiana raised her eyebrows. "Try me."

So Adrian did. The version of the future he told her was heavily edited, making no mention of Sydney or Declan. Adrian had always liked to think that Aunt Tatiana might have approved of his marriage, if only because it made him happy, but it was too big a risk to take. And, unlike with his friends at Saint Vladimir's, Tatiana was more than capable of looking up Sydney's name and discovering the truth.

Instead, he told her of Jill, and how the age law would need to be changed some day, and that Lissa had made a worthy successor. He told her of Dimitri and Sonya and Olive, and the progress they had been making towards a vaccine against Strigoi. He told her of the threats against her, both from the conservative Moroi who had blackmailed her, and from the Tasha and the other radical progressives, who had killed her. Last of all, he told her of the attack on Saint Vladimir's.

When he and Jill had explored the story to Rose, Lissa, Christian and Eddie, they had been constantly interrupted with questions, interjections and snark. There was none of that with Aunt Tatiana. She listened patiently throughout Adrian's explanation, her expression giving little away. Sometimes her eyebrows would rise at some particularly outlandish part, and Adrian had to admit that he'd find some of his stories insane if he hadn't lived them.

Nonetheless, when Adrian came to a stop, Tatiana nodded. "I have already started having some Moroi instructed in self-defence," she admitted. "I struggle to believe that any of them would have revealed their involvement to you, even Daniella."

"So you believe me?" asked Adrian. It kind of felt too easy. At least with everyone else who knew, they'd had first-hand experience with the craziness that was spirit through Lissa. Aunt Tatiana had only ever heard reports of spirit, and he knew that second-hand stories didn't always prepare one for the reality.

"You're many things, Adrian, but you're not delusional and you're not a liar," said Tatiana, briskly. Adrian glanced down. _If only she knew_. "Now. How do you think we should proceed?"

Adrian allowed himself another five seconds of bewilderment before he pulled himself together. "We need more guardians at the academy, and we need them to be on alert. Lockdown happened pretty quickly, but every second counts."

Tatiana nodded thoughtfully. "That can be arranged. And the wards? Were stakes used, like in the Badica and Drozdov massacres?"

Adrian paused. "No, we never actually found any stakes on the wards. But there was another explanation." He filled her in quickly on Rose's theory about the Mana's initiation ritual. "I've already turned them in, but I don't think we can rely on that to keep the academy safe. With the amount of Strigoi in the attack… They must have been planning it for a while, and they have human servants to piece the wards if needed."

Tatiana nodded again, expression disturbed. "There's little that can be done about that, unfortunately. If anything, it's the Alchemists' responsibility." Adrian kept his face carefully blank at the mention of the Alchemists. "I'll have to speak to the Guardians Council about this. You should see to Vasilisa. I imagine this is a trying time for her."

Adrian tried not to laugh. He'd almost forgotten about his aunt's unsubtle attempts at matchmaking. "I imagine her boyfriend's got that under control." Tatiana tutted as he made his way for the door.

"And Adrian?" said Tatiana, and he glanced back. "I _am_ glad you're okay."

* * *

It took two days after the recovery of the bodies for Rose to turn up at his door. It was sooner than last time, he reflected. But when he opened the door, it wasn't to the melancholy, crumbling Rose he remembered last time, but a raging wildfire.

"You," she snarled, pushing her way into the room. Lissa followed, more quietly, looking alarmed. Adrian wondered if this was Rose's first outing since finding out about Dimitri. "You said that we'd be happy! All of us! You said -" Her voice cracked, fury slipping into a desperate sob.

"Rose, you're going to save him," promised Adrian. He spoke quietly, holding his hand out towards her like she was a wild animal.

Another sob racked Rose's body. "I know! I have to. He said that he'd rather be dead than -" She stopped, putting the back of her hand against her mouth as she took three deep, shuddering breaths. "You _promised_ , Adrian, you _both did_ , but now Dimitri's _one of them_!" The rage was pouring back into her.

Adrian decided to take more drastic action. He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him straight on. "Rose, _you're going to save him_. I don't mean kill him. I mean save him."

Rose went very, very still. Lissa was staring at him, eyes wide. "That's impossible," whispered Rose.

"It's not," he promised. "It had happened to at least four people in my timeline. Dimitri was the first. We're getting close to mass producing a vaccine against becoming a Strigoi – were. We were." Rose's mouth had opened into a small 'o'.

"I save him?" she whispered.

"He came looking for you," said Adrian. "You found him in Russia. You never told me what happened there, but whatever it was, you really pissed him off, and he was hunting you down. He took Lissa to get to you, and…" He spread his hands wide. "And a miracle happened."

" _We_ save him," breathed Rose. "How? How is it even possible? How did I even find all of this out?"

"You met a couple in Russia who'd heard stories about it, so you went looking for answers after you graduated," explained Adrian. "Trust me when I say you should be glad you've got me for all the answers here. Victor Dashkov is going to live a long, unhappy life in prison this time round." Rose and Lissa glanced at each other uncertainly, as if they were weighing up Dimitri's soul against Dashkov's freedom. Adrian knew the conclusion they would come to. Neither of them would damn an innocent man – damn _Dimitri_ , who they both cared for in different ways – if it could be helped. It was the same conclusion that they had come to last time. "A spirit user stakes them with a spirit-charmed stake."

Rose flinched. "What? _No._ Lissa isn't going anywhere near him!"

"Rose," said Lissa, putting a gentle hand on Rose's shoulder. "I did it before, and I lived." She looked over to Adrian. "Can you do it, too? Did you ever turn a Strigoi back?"

Adrian shook his head. "No. Robert Doru and Nina Sinclair are the other two spirit users who have definitely done it. There's at least one other out there, though. We never IDed the spirit user who brought Lee back."

"So I go to Russia, I piss Dimitri off, and he comes after me, and we change him back," muttered Rose, mostly to herself. " _Assuming_ that I'd ever let you put Lissa in danger."

"What if I start training?" Lissa asked Rose. "I'll talk to Eddie. He can train me whenever we have spare time. With you and him and any other guardians we take – Christian, too, even – it wouldn't be so dangerous."

"Dimitri was lethal even as a dhampir," shot back Rose. "Imagine how much worse he's going to be as a Strigoi! A few months – _weeks_ – isn't going to save you."

"Last time, Christian kept him trapped in a ring of flames and Lissa staked him through it," said Adrian. Lissa looked to him, expression and aura lighting up as she considered the possibility. Rose's expression darkened further.

"Stop encouraging her!" snapped Rose.

"I can do this," said Lissa, firmly. "You heard Adrian. They'd almost developed a vaccine! And it all starts with me saving Dimitri. This is bigger than us, Rose. You can't stop me. I'd rather save Dimitri for you first, but I'll lure a Strigoi out myself it I have to."

"The hell you will!" exclaimed Rose. The two were staring at each other, Rose fiercely and Lissa looking calm and resolute. Adrian wondered if Lissa was talking to Rose through the bond, because Rose was visibly weakening. At last, she took a deep breath. "Okay. I go to Russia. I draw Dimitri back to the USA, and we save him."

"We save him," agreed Lissa, and pulled Rose into a hug. Rose accepted it, burying her face in Lissa's shoulder. First there were a few sniffles, and then the dam broke, and Rose was sobbing into Lissa's shoulder. Lissa held her through it all, brushing at Rose's hair. Adrian let them have their privacy, slipping out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Adrian's phone was flashing when he woke, and a quick glance showed him that he had a message from an unknown number. He checked the text, expecting a wrong number. When he read it, he felt his heart skip a beat.

 _The center will hold_.

There were only two other people who knew what those words meant to him, and Jill wouldn't have sent him this.

He burned to call her, to hear her voice for the first time in over a month. But he didn't know if the text was from a burner phone, or whether she was alone and away from any other Alchemists, so he settled for a return text: _Because we are the center._

Sydney was here – well, in Russia. Somehow, she knew that he was also in the past. She must have met Rose, and Rose must have given it away. The details didn't matter. All that mattered was that Sydney Sage-Ivashkov was here in the past.

He heard banging on the door and a shout of " _Adrian!_ " only a few minutes later, and he laughed exuberantly. Jill must have seen it in the bond and ran the entire way here in order to get here that quickly. He opened the door for her. She was beaming from ear to ear. "We have Sydney," she said.

"We have Sydney," he agreed. He scooped her up into a bear hug, spinning her round.

Sydney didn't send a response, so he guessed that she was working on Alchemist phone, and wanted to keep possible condemning evidence to a minimum. Still, he waited by the phone, even as Christian and Lissa arrived for the scheduled Rose call. His phone began ringing halfway into a heated debate between Christian and Jill on the benefits of fire versus water magic. Lissa turned from where she was sitting, expression eager. "Is that Rose?"

Adrian glanced down, feeling a pang of disappointment when he realised it was, in fact, Rose. "Yup," he said, answering the call, placing it on speaker and throwing it on to the table. "Hey, Rose."

"Why didn't you say your wife was a _human_?" demanded Rose. Adrian winced as he took in Lissa and Christian's expressions.

"You're on speaker, so thanks for that particular reveal," said Adrian.

"She remembers!" said Jill, brightly, leaning on the table so she hovered over the phone. "How's Sydney? Is she there? Is she okay? Have the Alchemists been treating her alright?"

"One question at a time, Jill," said Rose, a smile in her voice, and Jill dimmed a little. "She seems okay, she just left – don't know why – she seems alright, and I have no idea. Did you just say she _remembers_?"

"I got a text that could only have been from her last night. She has to have had come back with us. We just didn't realise it because she's stationed in Russia," explained Adrian. "Look, I know everyone thinks that vampires and humans mixing is wrong, but Sydney is…" He trailed off. There were so many ways for him to describe Sydney and what she meant to him, but none of them seemed to fully encapsulate the wonder that was Sydney Sage. An old memory came back to him, and he gave a soft smile. "She's my flame in the dark."

Lissa and Christian exchanged a look at Adrian's description. From their expressions, Adrian thought that they were probably having sickly sweet thoughts about how they were each other's flame in the dark. Rose, too, was silent over the phone. He was willing to bet that her line of thoughts was considerably sadder than her bondmate's.

"Are you okay?" asked Lissa, finally. "Have you found him yet?"

"No." Rose's voice was tight, and Lissa looked down, deflated. "I'm moving on from here soon. Sydney gave me a good tip."

"Are you going to tell us where you're going this time?" asked Christian, rubbing at Lissa's shoulders.

"Nope," said Rose, with an audible 'pop'. "I agreed to the phone calls. You're not going to weasel anything else out of me." Rose's trip may have changed dramatically in end goal, but her refusal to give out firm locations had remained the same. Adrian thought that she was probably concerned Lissa would decide to join her in an attempt to restore Dimitri sooner. Lissa looked up, her eyes welling with tears. Like every phone call, Adrian suspected that she was on the verge of begging Rose to come home, but like every phone call, she managed to restrain herself. She understood Rose's mission better this time.

"You're probably going to meet Abe Mazur soon," noted Adrian. He didn't know for certain, but he did know that Sydney was still indebted to him at this point in time, and it made sense that Abe had originally found Rose through Sydney. "He's mostly harmless. Well, when I say harmless, I mean to you."

"Wait. Who's Abe Mazur?" said Rose. Adrian shared a quick glance with Jill.

"A mobster," answered Jill. "He's – he likes you." She shrugged helplessly at the rest of the room. Lissa and Christian looked mildly bewildered at the turn the conversation had taken, while Adrian raised his eyebrows at her for the near-slip. This fell under their relationship spoilers rule, so they'd let Rose found out about her parentage naturally.

"He likes me," repeated Rose, voice sceptical. She clearly didn't believe Jill's explanation, but at this point, she knew not to push it.

Adrian's phone beeped, and he leaned over to check it. It was an unknown number. "Rose, I've got another call coming through. Call Lissa and keep filling everyone in."

"Sure," said Rose, and hung up. Adrian swiped up his phone and hurried out of the room, feeling hope well up in his chest. He answered the phone.

"Adrian," breathed Sydney. " _Adrian._ " The entire world seemed to shrink down to the sound of her voice.

"Sydney," whispered Adrian. "Oh, God. Sage. I've missed you so much."

"I love you," said Sydney, her voice cracking. Adrian longed to be with her, to wrap his arms around her and stop the tears from falling. "I've been trying to hold on to you and Declan, but it's so hard, surrounded by Alchemists."

Adrian formed a fist with his spare hand, and leaned against the wall. "When do you come back to the States? I'll spring you. We can live out all of our escape plans."

"This is one we never thought of. Escape plan four hundred and thirty two: hide out in the past," said Sydney, a bit of humour entering her voice.

"It's flawless," said Adrian, smiling. He felt lighter than he had in over a month.

"I'll be back in the US in about two month," said Sydney. "I take care of Rose on her way to Baia, and Abe will get me posted to New Orleans." _Two months_ , thought Adrian. Two months until he saw Sydney again. He could handle this.

"Do you want to run then, or wait until you can cut a deal with the Alchemists?" asked Adrian. He wanted to see her as soon as possible, but it would be a dangerous life, running from an organisation as powerful as the Alchemists. He couldn't guarantee that his aunt would grant Sydney asylum, and he knew she wouldn't want as the sole human amongst a vampire city, anyway. It was a question that had to be asked.

"Run," said Sydney, decisively. "I can't stand this! I'm walking on eggshells all the time, afraid I've given too much away. I have to bite back every other word. I'm carrying spells in my purse all the time in case I have to run." She took a deep, shaky breath. Adrian's heart constricted at the fear in her voice. "I can't go back to re-education. I can't."

"You won't," promised Adrian. "I'll find you if they get you. I've done it before and I'll do it again if I have to."

"I know," said Sydney, her voice a little stronger. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he said. "That you're here – that you came back with us – it's the greatest thing that's happened to me in a long, long time."

"Yeah? Since when?" asked Sydney. He could hear a smile in her voice and he grinned.

"Since you decided to marry me in the first place, and since Declan," said Adrian, immediately. The silence on the other end of the phone darkened and he half wished he hadn't brought Declan up.

"You said 'us'," said Sydney at last. "Who else came back?"

"Jill," said Adrian. "We think it was the bond."

"Jill," repeated Sydney, voice lightening. "Can I talk to her?"

"Of course," he said, sliding the door open. The phone call in the other room was already winding up, and he waved Jill over easily enough. "I love you, Sage. Two months."

"Two months," agreed Sydney, and he handed the phone over to Jill.

* * *

"Sydney!" greeted Jill, her voice bright and excited. Sydney couldn't help but smile, feeling a laugh bubbling up inside her, even as a few tears continued to roll down her face. "I've missed you so much."

"It's good to hear your voice, Jill," said Sydney, wrapping an arm around herself. It was cold out on the street, even in the middle of spring. That was Russia for you. But she had wanted to make this phone call away from Rose's curious eyes, and more than anything, she had wanted to hear Adrian's voice in a place untainted by Alchemists.

"Are you okay? With the Alchemists?" asked Jill, then paused. "This isn't an Alchemist phone, right?"

"No, it's a burner phone," replied Sydney. "I'm fine as I can be. A lot better now that I know you and Adrian are here, too."

"It's good to have you back, too. It's been just me and Adrian, and there are the others, too, but they're so much younger than they were and it's just – I don't know. They're the same, but they're not." Jill sighed. "But you're still you. Adrian's still Adrian. It makes me feel a little less trapped in a world that's not mine, you know?"

Sydney did know, probably better than Jill. Until a few hours ago, she had thought she was the only one trapped in the past. There was that opening line from _The Go-Between_ by L. P. Hartley: "The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there." And while Sydney was literally in a foreign country, the quote still applied. The Alchemists of her future had modernised and progressed considerably from Ivanov and his ilk, and the very fact that she was amongst them – well. That was certainly different.

But Adrian and Jill were _hers_ – her husband and pseudo-sister. She loved them with every fibre of her being. Hearing their voices was like a balm on every battering, every assault on her beliefs that she had endured over the past month and a bit.

"I know," said Sydney. "I'm coming home soon."

"Two months," said Jill, certainly. "Adrian keeps repeating it in his head loud enough for me to hear."

Sydney frowned. "I thought the bond was blocked when he was taking his medication."

"It is, but he had to go off the pills so he could heal people in the attack, and the medication hasn't kicked back in yet," said Jill. Almost as if she was sensing Sydney's worry and disapproval, she hastened to add, "I stayed with him the whole time and pulled him back whenever he was using too much! He got Christian to do the same for Lissa and everything. He's taking precautions. Don't worry."

"So he'll be back on the pills for good now?" asked Sydney. Jill hesitated, and Sydney felt a knot form in her chest. "What?"

"Avery Lazar will be coming soon," admitted Jill. "Adrian's just going to use spirit to block the compulsion. He knows that she's using compulsion, this time, so he thinks he'll be able to block it. I'm to avoid hanging out with them while Avery's around so she doesn't compel me, but if I notice they're acting weird, I tell them immediately."

Sydney bit back a sigh. It was a good plan, as much as she hated to admit it. She didn't know a lot about Avery Lazar, but from what bits she did know, Adrian and Lissa were going to need all the defences they could get. "Just tell him to be careful," she said, voice quiet. "I'm not there to pull him back from the spirit now."

"I know. I'll take good care of him, Sydney," promised Jill.

Sydney gave a small smile. If there was anyone Sydney trusted with her family, it was Jill and Eddie. "I know you will, Jill. I trust you."


	3. Chapter 3

Sydney opened the door on her apartment to find Rose watching TV. She had somehow arranged herself to be upside down and half hanging off the sofa, her long dark hair sprayed out on the ground. As Sydney entered, Rose twisted and somehow ended up the right way round in one smooth movement.

"I don't suppose _you'll_ tell me who Abe Mazur is," said Rose. She wasn't quite sulky in the way she said it, but she did seem put out at being left out of the loop.

"I'm guessing Adrian and Jill are refusing to tell you the specifics?" asked Sydney, crossing to the kitchen area to grab some food.

Rose coughed and shifted awkwardly. "Of course they tell me. They just got busy with your phone call, that's all."

Sydney laughed and turned around. "Rose, I've known you for seven years. I can tell when you're lying." Rose huffed dramatically at that and flopped back into her seat.

"They say that relationships should be allowed to develop naturally, instead of being stunted by their interference," grumbled Rose, crossing her arms across her chest.

It wasn't something that Sydney had needed to consider before then. She might have technically been surrounded by people – the other Alchemists, her contact with her family – but she either hadn't known about their future relationships or hadn't been in a situation which would have allowed for her to interfere. But it had been a logical call for them to make: if someone from the future had told her about her marriage to Adrian too soon, she certainly would have reacted badly.

"I just don't know what the relationship could _be_ ," continued Rose. "I don't even know who Abe Mazur is!"

Sydney covered her amusement by taking a bite of the muesli bar she had picked out. After she was sure she could control her smile, she swallowed and said, "He's a mob boss who happens to be interested in your reasons for being in Russia."

Rose regarded her suspiciously. "Do _you_ know why I'm in Russia?"

All of Sydney's good humour vanished as she thought of Dimitri. Good, kind Dimitri Belikov, always ready with his steadfast support or words of wisdom. Dimitri Belikov, who was currently a Strigoi. She hadn't ever seen Dimitri as a Strigoi, but she'd heard Dimitri pretending to get information, and she had seen reports of Rose's condition in the aftermath of her escaping him. She put the museli bar down, suddenly no longer feeling hungry. "I'm so sorry, Rose," she said, quietly.

"Adrian says I can save him," said Rose, almost to herself. She was staring at nothing in particular, expression dark. "I've just got to lure him out first."

"You did save him." Sydney cleared her throat. "Him and others." She thought of Sonya, who was probably in the house by the lake at that very moment, still tending to flowers even though she had forgotten the love that had once driven her. Of Olive, for the few precious months she'd gotten back. Even of Lee, who had been given a second chance, even if he had thrown it away.

"Apparently I've got to piss Dimitri off first," said Rose. She smirked a little. "I'm pretty good at that."

Sydney bit her lip and sat down next to Rose. "I don't think anyone ever knew exactly what happened," she said. "But I did read the report from after you escaped… You have to be careful, Rose. It took Dimitri a long time to forgive himself for what he did as a Strigoi, especially what he did to you."

Rose swallowed. "It doesn't matter. If it's possible to save him, I have to take that chance."

Sydney wondered, briefly, what it would be like to have friends who didn't regularly charge into life-threatening situations with little to no regard for their own safety because someone they loved was in danger. It would probably be a lot like the life she'd been living for the past month, to be honest.

"I thought you might say that." Sydney stood back up. "Grab your bags. We should get to the train station," she added over her shoulder, grabbing her keys off the bench. Rose shook herself and blinked at Sydney. Sydney prayed that it would go better for Rose this time.

* * *

"You know, whenever I thought about the future, I always thought it was going to be me or Rose who shocked the delicate sensibilities of the royals," said Christian, flopping down on to Adrian's couch. Lissa sat down next to him, watching her boyfriend with an indulgent smile.

"Oh, you did," assured Adrian. "Lissa did too, just by associating with you both."

"Looks like you blew us all out of the water, though," said Lissa. Jill quietly slipped out of Adrian's room and handed him back at his phone.

"I've missed her," said Jill. Her voice was quiet and a sad kind of happy.

Adrian rubbed at her shoulder before looking back at Lissa and Christian. He briefly considered deflecting to Jill – _hey, what about one of the last Dragomirs getting engaged to a dhampir_ – but that definitely went against their relationship spoilers rule, even if Eddie wasn't there.

"How does she even know about vampires?" asked Lissa. She was running her hands through Christian's hair, who had somehow rearranged himself so he was lying with his head in Lissa's lap.

"She was – is, I guess – an Alchemist. They're humans who help cover up for us: getting rid of Strigoi bodies, pulling strings and covering stuff up if humans ever see anything. They started dealing with the humans who served the Strigoi, too, once they were proven to be out there," explained Adrian.

"Huh," said Christian. "I never thought about that, but I guess they had to be out there. Alchemists, I mean."

"Yeah, well, most of them are awful," grumbled Jill. She leant back and crossed her arms.

Lissa raised her eyebrows. "Aren't they helping us?"

"Only because they want to keep humans separate from 'evil creatures of the night'," said Jill. "And they makes everyone toe the party line or they get sent off to re-education." The righteous fury in her voice was only barely masking the worst of her worry.

"Two more months," said Adrian, pulling Jill into a hug. "Two more months, and she'll be back in the States, and we'll get her out."

"Two months," repeated Jill. "Which escape plan are you going to use?"

Adrian smiled, although his face was obscured by Jill's brown hair. "I hear Rome's nice this time of year."

Jill snorted and pulled back. "Okay, you can stop being a dad now. I'm good."

"Being a dad is a natural state at this point," admitted Adrian, earning outright laughter from Jill. It wasn't as if he wasn't as worried for Sydney as Jill was, but after raising a child, it was a lot easier to lock down the panic and comfort someone else. The medication still allowed for some of spirit's natural, non-magical benefits, like charisma and a greater sensitivity for other people's emotions, making it easier still to distract others from the worst of their fears. It was easier to do with someone like Jill, who he knew so well and who trusted him entirely. It was easiest with Declan.

Had been. Had been easiest with Declan.

Jill touched his shoulder gently. Her gaze was empathetic as he met her eyes. "I'm fine," he promised. Jill didn't look convinced but didn't press him. He turned back to Lissa and Christian. Christian was fidgeting awkwardly, and Lissa was watching him with a compassionate stare that was identical to her sister's. "Anything else you'd like to know?" he asked.

"How much longer until Rose comes home?" asked Lissa.

"I don't know. Her goal's different, her meeting with Sydney is different – and I don't know much about her trip to Russia to start with, so I don't know how much those differences will matter," replied Adrian. He shrugged, gesturing widely with his hands. "Maybe she'll get to where she found Dimitri earlier, before even he got there, and she'll move on before he arrives and she takes a lot longer. Maybe the things Sydney and I said about Russia will make her react differently when she meets him. Maybe Abe will actually succeed in packing her in a box and sending her home. There's no way of knowing." Lissa nodded, looking down towards the floor.

"I don't suppose you'll tell us who this Abe Mazur is?" said Christian. Now that the emotional displays were over, he had stopped fidgeting and returned to his lounging position. "Promise I won't tell Rose."

"Nope," said Adrian, popping the 'p'. Christian grimaced a little, but otherwise looked like he had expected the answer. "You just want to be able to know something that Rose doesn't."

"Knowledge is power," said Christian, voice lofty.

* * *

Travelling with Rose was the first time Sydney had spent with any of her friends since she'd found herself in the past, and she should be enjoying it unreservedly. It wasn't like she _wasn't_ enjoying; it was just that Rose was so frustratingly _young_ sometimes.

Rose was eighteen. Sydney didn't begrudge the dhampir girl her youth, but sometimes she'd say something, expecting the reaction twenty-four-year-old Rose would have given, and get nothing. It wasn't Rose's fault, but it hurt anyway.

And it wasn't even like this was _normal_ behaviour for eighteen-year-old Rose. Rose had just lost Dimitri to the Strigoi, and was probably still coping with the deaths of anyone else she had known who was lost in the attack on Saint Vladimir's. Sydney had been through a lot in her life, but she had never experienced the sheer amount of loss that Rose and the others at Saint Vladimir's had experienced. Rose seemed horrifically sad so often. Sydney didn't think she fully believed that Dimitri could be saved.

Sydney wondered how Adrian and Jill had dealt with it all this time. _At least they had each other_ , she mused, staring out the window of the train. Their absence still felt like a physical ache, and she couldn't decide if it had gotten better or worse since she had spoken to them.

"So how did you and Adrian meet?" asked Rose. She was lying on her bed, propping her head up with her hand and one leg leaning off the side. "I can't picture him in Russia."

"I got posted back to the USA eventually," said Sydney. Rose raised an eyebrow, clearly expecting a story to follow. "But I'm pretty sure the story is going to fall under the spoilers rule." She hated to turn down Rose when she was in one of her better moods, but there were definitely _some_ aspects of the previous timeline that Sydney wanted to keep.

Rose groaned and dropped her head into her pillow. " _All_ of the good stories are covered by the spoilers rule."

"What makes you think it's such a good story?" asked Sydney. "Maybe we met at a windmill museum." She, personally, thought that windmill museums were perfectly interesting, but based off the general reactions her dates with Brayden had gotten, it was apparently the most boring thing in existence to most people.

"Well, first of all: Adrian? In a windmill museum? Even the new and improved future him wouldn't be caught dead in there," said Rose, flicking up one finger. Sydney hid a smile. She couldn't exactly argue that point. "Secondly, we've been keeping track of references to future relationships, and we've definitely established that _something_ interesting happened with you, Jill, Eddie and Adrian. And finally, whatever caused the Adrian Ivashkov of a month and a half ago to settle down must have been spectacular." Rose had kept holding up additional fingers as she made her points, and now she waggled the three fingers at Sydney pleadingly.

Sydney laughed. "It wasn't _that_ amazing, okay? There wasn't some big moment where the stars aligned and we were both madly in love. It just – happened. Over slushies and investigating and crosswords, because we were right for each other." She paused. "It wasn't anything about us that made our story eventful or spectacular. It was the rest of the world having a problem with it that did."

Rose had looked down, and Sydney almost sighed. She'd made Rose think about Dimitri again, and with all that stuff about 'being right for each other', she couldn't blame anything but herself for this. She picked up her book and started reading.

It was another twenty minutes before Rose spoke again. "Okay, I know you're not meant to be giving me any spoilers, but when you talked about Dimitri as a Strigoi… What did you mean? What did he do?"

"Honestly? I don't know, Rose. When I said that I don't think anyone but you and Dimitri knew, I was telling you the truth. And all the injuries in the reports could have come from just you fighting your way out," said Sydney.

"You and Adrian and Jill keep talking like it's set in stone," said Rose, quietly. "It's kind of… I don't know. It's like I have a destiny all of a sudden. I want to stop asking you guys about it, but I just can't stop."

Sydney sighed, turning to face Rose, letting her legs swing off the bed. "I don't know how to make that better," she said, honestly. "I know that the first time I was on this train with you, if someone had told me where I was going in my life, I would have freaked out. I can stop telling you things about the future, but – that's my past. It's a huge part of my life. I can't guarantee I won't reference it sometimes."

"It's not your fault," said Rose, "and you shouldn't have to stop being _you_ for me. I just wish there was a middle ground here."

Sydney shrugged. "Maybe there is one. We just have to find it."

* * *

Sydney woke to a dark and empty room.

That normally wouldn't be that bad a thing. Except they were travelling along a road that Strigoi were known to frequent, and Rose was missing.

She sat up, unable to shake the uneasy feeling. She went to peer through the window and felt her heart stop at what she saw. Rose, alone, fighting three Strigoi.

Sydney threw the door to the bedroom open and ran down the stairs, two at a time. She burst out of the house to see that Rose had managed to stake one Strigoi, but a second gave her a nasty backhand and Rose staggered back, giving the Strigoi an opening.

Sydney hadn't used magic since she found herself in the past. The chances of her tattoo turning silver before she got out of Russia were slim, but she hadn't wanted to take any chances.

Now, she had no choice. Rose was in danger. Sydney had to act.

She summoned a fireball into her hand and threw it at the Strigoi. The two remaining Strigoi had barely even noticed her arrival, so focused on dispatching Rose. But the Strigoi she had hit screamed, his head enveloped entirely by the fire. Both of the Strigoi had stopped their advance, too astonished (or too busy burning) to move.

Unfortunately, that also applied to Rose.

"What the hell," breathed Rose, staring at Sydney like she'd never seen her before.

"Hurry _up_ ," Sydney shouted back. Rose blinked and startled, turning her attention back to the Strigoi. She staked the flaming Strigoi and engaged the last, who had also been spurred back into movement under threat of Rose's stake.

Rose dodged the Strigoi's attempt to grab her, slipping down and around. The Strigoi turned to follow her and Rose dragged her stake across his arm. The Strigoi let out a loud noise, half a scream and half a snarl.

They were moving almost too fast for Sydney to follow, but at last Rose got an opening, and the last Strigoi received a stake to the heart.

Rose staggered back, her breathing ragged. "You threw a fireball," said Rose, turning to face Sydney. " _You threw a fireball._ That's impossible. I'm hallucinating, right? I've finally cracked."

"You're still sane," said Sydney. "Witches generally prefer not to show themselves to the Moroi world if they can help it. I don't think there are many Moroi or dhampirs who know."

"My entire perspective of the human world has changed in the past week," said Rose, running a hand through her hair. "I didn't think that could happen, since I'd already lived there." She took a deep breath. "Okay. So you're Adrian's human wife from the future who can also throw fireballs and maybe other stuff and spends her time hiding vampires from humans. Did I get everything?"

Sydney thought about it. "No, I think that's it."

"I really didn't think Russia was going to be this eventful," said Rose. "Oh my god. I can actually see it. I can imagine you two. I bet you caused all kinds of grey hairs."

"I think we scandalised the Ivashkov family beyond repair," admitted Sydney, and Rose choked on a laugh.

"I can imagine. Oh, man. This is _awesome_."

* * *

Rose felt like she was floating.

All the pain she'd been experiencing seemed to have disappeared, subsumed by the feeling of bliss that was still pumping through her veins. She thought she had been scared, a little while ago, but she must have been wrong. What was there to be afraid of? There was no one even here, and the only one who came was Dimitri…

Dimitri.

She remembered a voice, unbidden: " _It took Dimitri a long time to forgive himself for what he did as a Strigoi, especially what he did to you_."

Rose made a face. Dimitri hadn't done _anything_ to her yet. They must have gotten it wrong.

Except…

Well, Sydney hadn't gotten anything else wrong. Everything Sydney had talked about, every interaction they'd had – well, it was hard to deny that Sydney _knew_ Rose. She'd even made it sound like she'd known Dimitri.

Well, Dimitri was Dimitri, she supposed. (Dimitri was a Strigoi.) Nothing changed that. Except that something _had_.

Rose groaned and turned over, screwing her eyes shut. She didn't want to think about this. She wanted to sleep instead.

But there was no peace to be found in sleep, apparently, because a world materialised around her. She was in a bright, flowering garden, and she almost groaned as she recognised it.

"Adrian, I'm _fine_ ," she said, turning around to face him. "I'm great! Didn't Sydney tell you?"

"Rose, Sydney hasn't seen you since she left Baia, and you missed check-in by a full day," said Adrian. His expression was serious, and Rose frowned. Why was he so solemn? "Where are you?"

Rose shrugged. "With Dimitri."

Adrian froze, his eyes widening with horror. "Fuck. Fuck, Rose, are you okay? Has he hurt you?"

"I told you! I'm fine!" she exclaimed. He frowned and leant towards her, brushing her hair off her neck. She tried to rear away from him, but it was too late. He stared at her neck, and swallowed, hands curling slowly into fists.

"God, I remember this," he muttered. "I wondered, but I guess I didn't want to know. You have to get out of there, Rose."

"Why would I do that?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips. "Dimitri's here. I only just found him again."

"That's not Dimitri, Rose!" snapped Adrian, throwing his hands into the air. He ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm himself. "That's not Dimitri, okay? You'd understand if you'd ever heard him or Sonya or Olive talk about it. It's like when they get raised again as Strigoi, everything that makes them capable of goodness is just stripped away from them. They might act like they did before, but it's only to prove that they still _can_ , not because they're the same."

Rose blinked, her eyes stinging with tears. "That's not what he says."

Adrian scoffed. "He probably doesn't even _realise_. That's how it works. Rose, please. Come back. Come home."

"I can't!" exclaimed Rose. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't get past the doors."

Adrian regarded her very seriously. "You did last time."

Rose scoffed, turning away. "Last time! You and Jill and Sydney say that _all the time_. I'm not the same person as last time, alright? I'm not that Rose Hathaway! Stop looking at me and seeing _her_!"

"Rose, please -"

"Send me back, Adrian," said Rose. "Send me back!"

"Rose!" shouted Adrian, but the garden was dissolving around her already. She blinked awake and sat up. She wanted to go back to that floaty feeling to return, but all she could feel was that same resentment that had caused her to push Adrian away.

She gritted her teeth. She just wanted to be seen as herself, not as some mysterious Other Rose who had apparently always made the right call. Maybe that Rose had run, but that didn't mean she would.

Except she trusted Adrian. She trusted Jill. They had never hurt her. All they had done, the whole time that they had been back, was try to help people. They had warned her about the ghosts and the school about the Strigoi. They hadn't done a single thing to earn her mistrust. She even trusted Sydney, despite how little she knew her.

All three of them said the same thing. They said she could save Dimitri, and they said he had regretted his actions as a Strigoi.

Well then. She was just going to have to make sure he had one less thing to regret.

* * *

Rose Hathaway arrived home from Russia almost an entire month before she had done last time round. She walked straight into Adrian's arms at the airport and started crying.

"I killed him," she said between the big, heaving sobs. "You told me I could save him and I killed him instead."

Adrian didn't know what to tell her. He could say that Dimitri had survived, but he didn't know that for certain. Who knew? Maybe Rose had actually succeeded in staking him this time round.

So he didn't say anything. He just hugged her back until her sobs subsided. When her cries had been reduced to a few silent tears running down her face, he pulled back and gently lead her to get coffee.

"You and Sydney never did say why Abe was so fond of me," said Rose, hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate. She was curiously still, like she had cried all the emotion out and had been reduced to a rather soaked doll.

"Huh," said Adrian. "If he didn't tell you, then I've got absolutely no idea where you found out. You knew when you came back."

She blinked. "How did Abe change? You and Jill never met him, and Sydney barely did. How did you guys change his actions?"

Adrian shrugged. He knew that Sydney had probably had considerably more interactions with Abe than Rose knew of, but if Sydney hadn't said anything, he wasn't about to betray her. "Maybe we aren't the only people to come back. Or maybe you're the one who changed."

"Me?"

"You're back a month early, Rose. Part of that was Sydney picking you up so much earlier, but the rest was all you," said Adrian. Rose's mouth opened a little, and she leant back against her chair. "I guess you really aren't that Rose Hathaway after all."

"What I said in the dream…" said Rose, voice soft. "It was out of line, Adrian. I was angry because you were making me think past those endorphins. I'm sorry."

Adrian shrugged. "You were right, though. I talked about it with Sydney and Jill. We look at you and Lissa and Eddie and everybody else that we know, and we want – expect, sometimes – you to be the people we left behind, but you're not. We need to stop treating you like you are."

"So maybe we all just stop resenting each other for the whole time travel thing?" suggested Rose. "It's not like any of this was under our control, or our choice. We just have to make do."

"Sometimes, Rose Logic can be very wise," said Adrian, lifting his mug up to her. She smiled and clinked her own against it. "I do have one favour for you when we get back to school, though."

"What?"

"You should punch Avery Lazar for me," said Adrian. It was unexpected enough that Rose barked out a laugh. It was a harsh, almost choking sound, like it had been torn out of her against her will. Adrian wondered if it was the first time she'd laughed since she may or may not have killed Dimitri.

"Punch a royal? I thought I was meant to be able to get back into school after this," said Rose.

Adrian huffed. "Fine. Not right now, then. But you're definitely going to have to punch one of them at some point, because as proud as you were of Lissa for punching Reed last time, some actual physical back up could be nice in the upcoming spirit battle."

"Doesn't this fall under spoilers?" wondered Rose, sipping at her hot chocolate.

"This is the kind of thing that requires advanced warning," explained Adrian. Rose nodded understandingly, then paused abruptly.

"Wait. _Lissa_ punched someone?"

* * *

"Okay, so," said Lissa, sitting cross-legged on Adrian's couch, "let me get this straight. Avery Lazar is a spirit user, who is masking the gold in her aura and pretending to be an air user."

Adrian nodded. "Affirmative."

"And her brother and her guardian are both bonded to her." Adrian nodded again, so she continued. "And she wants to kill me and bond me to her, so she gets all my spirit power, and she wants to compel you into falling in love with her, so she gets all your social influence."

"Except I'm already married and will lose all my social influence once wider society finds out about it, so joke's on her," said Adrian. Lissa nodded.

"And last time we dealt with her by frying her with spirit?" asked Rose, who was sitting with her back against the couch.

"Yeah, I'd rather not do that again, because she doesn't deserve spirit insanity, even if she is kind of evil," said Adrian. "Pretty sure Reed and that guardian definitely don't. They didn't ask to be bonded to an evil spirit user and take on all her spirit darkness – and there's got to be a lot of that, because I've done some serious stuff with spirit, but I never worked out how to mask an aura."

"Did we ever get a break in the future?" asked Lissa.

"Not really," admitted Adrian. Lissa and Rose both groaned loudly. "But if I get my way, Lissa becoming queen is going to be put off for several years, so you _will_ get a break in this timeline."

"So long as I get to go to college first," said Lissa, lying back on the couch and stretching her legs out. "Seriously, I have no idea how I did both in your timeline."

"By being a total nerd, probably," said Rose, and promptly dodged a half-hearted kick from Lissa.

"You know you're going to have to do it all with me," said Lissa, and Rose wilted a little. "Maybe you'll be glad I'm such a nerd sometime."

"What, when I'm failing all your classes?" asked Rose.

Lissa grinned mischievously. "You said it, not me," she said, the end almost drowned out by an outraged yowl from Rose.

* * *

It took another week for Avery Lazar to arrive at Saint Vladimir's. Lissa deposited Avery in guest housing and came straight to Adrian's door.

"Now what?" asked Lissa, after explaining where she'd come from. "You talked about how to protect ourselves from her compulsion, but how do we stop her without hurting her or letting her hurt anyone else?"

"I don't know, Liss," sighed Adrian. "Spirit magic is hard to get around. I don't know how to except -" He broke off. Lissa straightened, noticing his expression.

"Except?" she prompted.

"Except through human magic," said Adrian. "Alicia made charms to make her immune to my compulsion. Maybe there are charms to stop vampires from using magic altogether."

Lissa's eyebrows had been climbing skyward the entire time Adrian was speaking. "Human magic?" she said, voice faint.

Adrian waved her confusion away. "Yeah, that's a thing. We were surprised, too. I have to talk to Sydney."

"Human magic exists," murmured Lissa, looking like she needed to sit down.

"Someday, I'm going to tell you about the future and you're not going to look like you're about to pass out," Adrian said, picking up his phone.

"Hi, Adrian," greeted Sydney. Her voice was lighter than he'd heard in a long time and he blinked in surprise. "Guess what?"

"What?" he asked, mildly bewildered.

"I'm coming back to the USA early," she exclaimed. "Rose organised it with Abe. Apparently she made it one of her conditions for him shipping her back to the USA."

"When?" he asked. He felt lighter than air.

"A week," said Sydney. "We're so close, Adrian."

"This is incredible, Sage," breathed Adrian. He caught sight of Lissa shifting weight. The movement wasn't quite impatient, but it reminded him of why he had called. "For more reasons than you know." He filled her in on his theory about human magic and Avery. Sydney listened patiently.

"I'm pretty sure it's possible," said Sydney. "I need to talk to Mrs Terwilliger about this. She'll know. Inez if not."

" _That_ will be a very odd conversation," said Adrian, earning a laugh from Mrs Terwilliger.

"'Hi Mrs Terwilliger, I'm your apprentice from the future, and I need advice on how to stop an evil spirit-using vampire, please and thank you'," quipped Sydney.

"Maybe phrase it a little better, and you're golden," said Adrian, and she laughed again.

"I have to go," she said. "Ivanov is expecting me. Give me two weeks – a week to get back to the US, then some time to get dirt on my father, contact Mrs Terwilliger, get the spell parts and get to Missoula." Sydney's voice grew quiet, almost reverent. "Then we're home free."

* * *

When Sydney touched down in Utah, it was her mother waiting to greet her.

Technically, Sydney was meant to be making her way to New Orleans, but her assignment wasn't due to start for another four days. The Alchemists had already sorted out the apartment and most of her living costs. She didn't see any harm in spending a few days with her mother and sisters before she made her way to New Orleans.

Besides, Sydney didn't have access to the Warriors of the Light this time around. That meant she had to find dirt on her father another way, and this was the best way she could think of. Once she found some evidence of her father's dirty dealings, she would make her way to New Orleans, and disappear from there. It would take longer for someone to notice she was missing if she left from New Orleans, and she could use her father's dealings to blackmail him into keeping her free from the Alchemists.

But that was still hours or days away. Now, Sydney's mother was waving excitedly at her and Sydney couldn't help but grin as she walked into her mother's arms. Sydney's relationship with her mother was one of the few that hadn't been damaged by her relationship with Adrian. She might have been married to an Alchemist, but she had never internalised the Alchemist teachings in the same way that Sydney or her sisters had.

"So how was Russia?" asked her mother, hooking her arm through Sydney's.

Sydney laughed. "Eventful." Honestly, that didn't even begin to cover it.

"I want to know _everything_ that happened since I saw you last," said her mother. "And I don't want any excuses about _Alchemist business_ or the like."

Sydney's smile faded. Since her mother had seen Sydney last? The best part of a decade had past from Sydney's point of view. From Sydney's point of view, Katherine Sage was a grandmother and mother-in-law (twice over, at that: Marcus and Carly had tied the knot only a few months before Sydney found herself in the past). But from Katherine's point of view, of course, Sydney was barely eighteen.

"I met some vampires for the first time," Sydney said instead. "One was called Rose. She was nice – you know, for an evil creature of the night." The last part she said in a sardonic tone, and her mother laughed.

"I'm glad your Stateside again," said Katherine. "You always said you were fine, and Jared said that all of the reports he was getting said you were doing good job, but I worried anyway. Now you'll only be a few hours flight away, rather than half a world away."

Sydney worked her jaw for a second before trying to settle her face back into a neutral expression. _Of course_ her father's main concern was that she was doing a good job as an Alchemist. "It's nice to be home again," she said. Her mother glanced at her, face concerned, but Sydney managed a smile. Katherine looked away, hopefully dismissing Sydney's response as Alchemist diplomacy.

"Zoe will be excited to see you," said Katherine. "She and your father were busy with lessons but they should have finished up by the time we're home. And Carly's home, too! She heard you were coming home and flew home for the weekend. She was just finishing up an assignment."

That earned a genuine smile. This Carly would be closer to the Carly she remembered than anyone else in her family except her mother. She had been away at university, working through her traumas in a healthier environment and growing into the activist Sydney knew. Would she be the same sister who had sat in Sydney's living room only two months ago, holding Declan in her arms and pretending to teach him to dance? Of course not.

But she would be closer to the sister Sydney had known than Zoe, still timid and eager to please their father. She would certainly be closer to the sister Sydney had known than to the father Sydney had known, who was God knows where and probably only thought of Sydney with loathing and disgust.

Apparently even something as simple as visiting your childhood home and family couldn't be an easy, happy occurrence when you were a time traveller, Sydney noted, annoyed.

"It sounds like Carly's having a good time at college," said Sydney, because it wasn't like she could tell her mother any of her thoughts.

"I would have liked it if you could go to college, too," said Katherine, irritation leaking into her voice.

"I would have loved to go to college," said Sydney, honestly. College had been wonderful. Soaking in all that knowledge, and not having to hold any of it back, either, because everyone was there to learn the same the things she was – because they wanted to, not because they had to, like at Amberwood.

What had come after had been good, too. Working at the museum had been lovely, and having a steady income had certainly made budgeting easier. But that didn't lessen how magical college had been for her.

The drive home was quiet, but when the car pulled into the driveway, the front door to the house was flung open and Carly poured out of it, wrapping Sydney in an embrace almost before Sydney was out of the car.

"I've missed you so much," said Carly, voice fierce.

"I've missed you, too," said Sydney, leaning into Carly's hug. "Are you okay?"

Carly pulled back and smiled at Sydney. It still wasn't as bright as it had been before Keith, or as it would be in the future, but it was a smile. "Getting there."

"I'm glad," said Sydney, hugging Carly again. She longed to tell Carly everything, suddenly: how Carly healed but never forgot, that Sydney had ensured Keith was punished without breaking her promise to Carly, that Carly had been wonderful and brave and had saved so many girls from spiralling into the despair Carly herself had experienced and had helped a lot of the victims of re-education rebuild themselves. Carly had built a good life for herself, with Marcus. Sydney loved them both.

Zoe was waiting for them in the kitchen, and she lit up as Sydney walked into the room. Sydney felt her heart lift at the sight. It hadn't been since she left for Amberwood that she had seen Zoe so happy to see her. It had been almost as long since she had seen Zoe with an unadorned cheek.

"How was Russia?" asked Zoe, jumping off her stool and hugging Sydney tightly. "I heard that you met all kinds of vampires! I heard you saw _Strigoi_ ," added Zoe, her voice dropping low on the last word.

Sydney couldn't help but laugh at her sister's eagerness. "Only from a distance. Rose – she's a dhampir, Rose Hathaway – took care of them. I only had to deal with the bodies, like usual." A lie. Her first words to her sister were a lie. It stung, but it was necessary.

Zoe bounced a little on the balls of her feet. "Still! And you had to spend so much time with that dhampir! I don't think I could have done it. You're really brave, Sydney."

It was quite a difference from six years ago, when Zoe had been accusing Sydney of spending too much time with vampires. Six years ago, it had been _fraternizing_ and had gotten Sydney shipped off to re-education. Now it was brave.

But that wasn't entirely fair. There were no black marks on Sydney's records at the moment, and their father hadn't been pitting her and Zoe against each other. Of course Zoe wasn't suspicious of her.

So Sydney shrugged delicately and wrapped an arm around Zoe's shoulders. "Just doing what had to be done, Zo."

"As should we all," said Jared Sage, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. All of Sydney's good humour vanished at the sight of him. "It's good to see you again, Sydney."

 _Sure it is_ , Sydney thought, unable to control her resentment. But Jared was probably telling the _truth_ : Sydney was being a good little Alchemist, so he was proud of her. He did love her. It was just that his love was conditional.

"It's good to see you, too," said Sydney, forcing herself to keep smiling. Jared smiled and stepped forward to hug her. Sydney accepted it with none of the eagerness she'd had with her sisters and mother, skin crawling.

"Ivanov told me you were doing well in Russia," said Jared, pulling back. He ran a disapproving eye over her. "Evidently, there was plenty of food in Saint Petersburg."

Sydney gritted her teeth. It had taken her a long time to fully recover from her eating disorder and the unhealthy standards her father had set for her. She wasn't going to let herself spiral again because of Jared Sage, dubbed by Adrian the World's Worst Father of 2007 (And Probably Other Years, Too). Sydney had been unable to disagree with his assessment.

"Just taking in the culture," said Sydney, keeping her voice light. She turned to Carly, trying to dismiss her father in a way that her father wouldn't take offence to. "You'd love it there. The architecture is so beautiful."

Carly grinned. "Only as a tourist, though," she said. "Alchemist work sounds awful."

 _You've got no idea_ , Sydney thought darkly.

 **AN: Next up: Sydney gets to yell at her dad, and reunions all round!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Sorry for the delay! This chapter has been up on AO3 and tumblr for a few days, but ff dot net has been being a bit funny about uploading documents.**

Jill startled as a tray was dropped on to the table next to her with a large clatter. She looked up to see Eddie sitting down beside her.

"So, you've been mysteriously absent from Adrian's room over the past week," said Eddie. "And Rose's. And Lissa's, and -"

Jill snorted, and Eddie looked very pleased with himself. "I get the picture," she said. "I haven't had a fight with Adrian or anything. It's just…" She paused, then nodded in the direction of the table where Rose, Lissa and Christian were eating with Avery. "Avery Lazar's a spirit user. She almost got Lissa killed last time. We have a plan to deal with her, but we still need to wait a bit to get all the supplies."

"So you're – what? Back up?" asked Eddie. Jill stole one of his fries and he whacked at her hand with the flat of his knife. She grinned up at him, and it felt so achingly like it used to that she could have kissed him.

"Yeah," she said instead, because kissing him would _definitely_ go against the relationship spoilers rule. "I can use the bond to tell if Adrian's being compelled, and since I'm not hanging out with them, Avery doesn't know to compel me."

"It's a good plan," said Eddie, nodding to himself. "And you've definitely got a way to stop her?"

"Not _definitely_ , but I trust Sydney to come through for us," said Jill. "She's never let us down before."

"So will we finally get to meet the mysterious Sydney?" asked Eddie. "I mean, Rose has met her, and I know she's a human, but somehow you've all been pretty elusive about her."

Jill smiled sadly. "It's not just romantic relationships that fall under the spoilers rule, you know."

"You know that Rose has been trying to work out your future ever since you guys came back? She's got, like, the cork board with all these dates and names pinned to it like in a detective movie," said Eddie. "Some of her theories sounds pretty reasonable. Other stuff seems like reaching."

Jill laughed. She hadn't know, but knowing Rose, it wasn't a surprise, either. "I hope you're not using this as a way to get spoilers out of me."

"I would _never_ ," said Eddie, trying to look indignant.

They sat silently for a few minutes. Jill watched over her friends with Avery as subtly as she could, and she could tell that Eddie was doing the same. Well, doing much better at it, to be honest. Guardians were actually trained in surveillance.

"With Rose's cork board," said Eddie at last, "she has this one theory." He turned to look at her. Jill looked down at her food. "About you and me."

Jill looked back up. "You know I can't say either way."

"Look, I know why you and Adrian decided not to say anything. I get your reasoning," said Eddie. "But it's pretty obvious to everyone that Lissa and Christian stayed together in your future, and that hasn't affected them at all. If anything, it's made them more sickeningly sweet than ever."

"What are you trying to say?" asked Jill.

"Well, I've already worked out that we were together in the future," said Eddie. "And we worked, right?" Jill nodded, hesitantly, and he continued. "So I was wondering if we should just – try. I know I'm not the Eddie you had a few months ago, but I wasn't really expecting to be in a relationship with a long-lost Dragomir princess, so I figure we're kind of even there." Jill couldn't help a giggle bubbling out, and Eddie smiled at her. "If it works, then we've got a few extra years we didn't have in your future."

Jill sat for a moment, wondering. Eddie was right. If he knew about their future relationship, then the development of their relationship had already been disrupted, not to mention the fact that she was a different Jill to the one he had initially fallen in love with in her timeline.

But what if she lost him? What if Eddie wasn't ready yet, and this ended badly, and she lost him forever? She wasn't sure if she could bear it.

Eddie was looking at her, as firm and steadfast as he always was. Slowly, she leant forwards and kissed him on the cheek. "I'd like that."

* * *

Sydney tapped at the table anxiously at the table as she waited for Mrs Terwilliger to pick up her phone. It was the Amberwood lunch hour, so Mrs Terwilliger should be available. Sydney, meanwhile, didn't have nearly so much free time. She had managed to get away from the rest of their family by claiming she was going for a coffee run, but it would only be matter of time before someone started wondering why she was taking so long. Abruptly, the ringing cut off as the line picked up.

"Jaclyn Terwilliger speaking," said the voice at the other end. Sydney's heart ached at the sound of her old teacher's voice.

"Mrs Terwilliger, my name is Sydney Sage, and I need some advice on spells relating to vampire magic," said Sydney, trying to make herself sound as professional as possible.

"I'm sorry?" said Mrs Terwilliger.

"I was wondering if you knew of any spells that could prevent a vampire from using their magic," explained Sydney. "I know there are spells that can prevent a vampire from wielding their magic on oneself, but I wanted to know if there are any ways to cut off the magic at its source, as it were."

"That's not what I meant," said Mrs Terwilliger. "I quite understood your inquiry. I would rather know who you are and how you came by my number." Her voice was sharp. Sydney just barely kept herself from sighing.

"My name is Sydney Sage," she repeated. "As for how I got your number, I had a magical accident and ended up seven years in the past. I know your number because you gave it to me a few months from now." There was silence on the other end. Sydney continued, a tinge of desperation entering her voice, "You have six cats. You work at Amberwood Prep as a history teacher, and you have a boy named Trey Juarez in your class, who's brighter than he lets on a lot of the time. You're a part of the Stelle, and so was your sister before she became too interested in dark magic and you drove her off."

There was so much more she knew about Mrs Terwilliger that she could mention. Mrs Terwilliger had been one of the great shaping influences of Sydney's life. " _I should hope that your beliefs are your beliefs_ ," she had once told Sydney, and it had taken a long time, and a lot of work with her and Adrian and everyone else Sydney loved for that to become true.

But Mrs Terwilliger cut her off. "You're telling the truth," she said slowly. "I wasn't aware of any spells that could cause time travel."

Sydney winced. "It wasn't exactly human magic."

There was a pause on the other end. "I imagine this is why you would like to cut off a vampire's magic? To prevent this from happening again?"

"No, actually," said Sydney. "I trust the person who did it. It's for a rogue spirit user." She explained the situation with Avery Lazar briefly.

"I'm not certain of any such spells," said Mrs Terwilliger, when Sydney finished. "I will do my research tonight. I can email you any spells I find," she offered.

"No!" exclaimed Sydney. "No," she repeated, more calmly. "I can't – well, I just can't have any evidence of my magic available. Call me back and I'll write the spell down."

"If you're certain," said Mrs Terwilliger. "Are you safe, Miss Sage? Do you need help?"

"I'm as safe as I can be," said Sydney. "I'll be able to get out of here soon. Only a few more days," she finished, largely to herself.

There was the familiar sound of the Amberwood bell on the other end of the phone. "Unfortunately, duty calls," said Mrs Terwilliger, sounding genuinely disappointed to cut the call short. Sydney wasn't surprised. This was probably the most interesting and confounding thing that had happened to Mrs Terwilliger in a long time.

"It's fine, Mrs Terwilliger," she said, and hesitated. "Keep an eye out for Trey, please? His family is… bad, and I don't think I'll be in a position to help him this time around."

"I will do my best," said Mrs Terwilliger. "I'll let you know my findings as soon as I can."

* * *

" _Soooo_ ," said a voice behind Adrian, and he almost groaned. He turned to face Avery Lazar, who was watching him with one hand on her waist and her hip popped out. "I always heard that Adrian Ivashkov was the life of every party. What _happened_ , man?"

Adrian could feel the tingle of compulsion, the will that was not his own pushing him towards parties. He pushed back at it with spirit. Avery's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. She'd been like this since the start, but seemed to have put Adrian's and Lissa's resistance down to their spirit use and had taken it as a challenge.

It was especially awful, because without the compulsion and trying-to-kill-innocent-people thing, Avery Lazar was just the kind of person who would have been up twenty-one-year-old Adrian's alley. She wouldn't necessarily have been a _good_ influence on him, but he would have liked her genuinely, without the compulsion. But in her quest for power, she'd left behind everything that could make her a likable person and replaced it with compulsion.

"Unfortunately," said Adrian, drawing the word out, "I've got to be a role model to Lissa. Aunt Tatiana wants me to be the 'positive counterbalance' to Christian."

Avery laughed, clear and bright. Adrian tried not to grit his teeth. "Man, how'd you convince her you're a good influence?"

"No idea," said Adrian. "Half the school still thinks I'm dating Rose."

"Oh, yeah, I heard that," said Avery. Her grin was all teeth. "Heard some sophomores saying you two had eloped."

"I _do_ love Vegas," said Adrian, which was probably the only honest thing he was going to say for the entire conversation. Vegas held some fond memories: Sydney looking beautiful in her dress, bouquet in hands, rings on her fingers. "But alas, elopement is not on the cards for Rose and I." After all, he was happily married (ironically, because of an elopement), and she was hopelessly in love with a Russian warlord, who was either dead or an undead mobster. You know, normal relationship obstacles.

"She doesn't seem to like me that much," noted Avery. Adrian only just managed to bite back a comment about how _nobody_ there liked her.

"Rose is very possessive of what she considers hers," explained Adrian, because it was a better reason than any of the real ones.

"So she does like you?" asked Avery, cocking her head. Adrian wondered if she was now planning how best to get rid of Rose.

"She's more possessive of Lissa than of me," said Adrian. "They've been best friends since they were kids, and Rose is in line to be her guardian." Honestly, that wouldn't extend Rose's life expectancy in Avery's mind, but he had faith in Rose's abilities to punch her way out of any situation.

"Yeah, aren't they bonded?" asked Avery. "Like in the stories?" Avery was very good at faking curiousity: she had cocked her head ever so slightly and widened her eyes a little. Adrian nodded and she sighed longingly. "I wish I could have that. Simon's okay, but it'd be pretty great to have my best friend as my bonded guardian."

 _Unbelievable_. She was effectively saying that her brother and guardian just _weren't good enough_. Rose and Lissa were still finding a way to balance out the bond so that Lissa had her privacy and they both had their sanity. Adrian and Jill had spent a long time working out how to maintain their privacy and keep Adrian's vices from affecting Jill. Most of the time, they didn't even bother trying to balance out the bond; they just blocked it with medication. If Avery actually cared about either of her bondmates, she would know all of that, and wouldn't be making that comment, even as a cover.

"Yeah, well, it's not all of a bed of roses," said Adrian, trying to keep the edge out of his voice.

"I see what you did there," said Avery with a smirk. Adrian blinked. He hadn't even noticed. "Come on, let's go find Lissa and see if we can spring her from her disapproving keeper."

"Sorry, I can't," said Adrian, pushing back against the compulsion. "Got a – thing. Got a thing. And Lissa's got an exam coming up, so she won't do anything either."

Avery frowned minutely before it was wiped away by an easy smile. "All good. Let me know when you're finally willing to let loose," she said, with a flirty flip of her hair and a quick pulse of compulsion.

 _Not likely_. "Will do."

* * *

The house was silent. It was close to one in the morning, and the rest of Sydney's family was sleeping. She slid out of her bed, casting a spell to keep her movements silent.

Her father's office was well-organised and when it came to most subjects, it was simple to find the relevant files. Sydney knew that her task wouldn't be so easy.

She closed the door behind her before she turned the computer on. She turned the brightness down to its lowest possible setting to be safe. She started clicking through all the folders that seemed like they would usually be considered irrelevant.

It took forty minutes, located on a hard drive that she found hidden behind the book shelf, amidst a folder filled with bureaucratic but Proper Alchemist things. Sydney guessed that her father was banking on anyone searching through the hard drive to dismiss it after only a few of the bureaucratic files. But there it was: evidence of her father's illegal smuggling of vampire blood and saliva to the Warriors of the Light. There was even enough mentions of all his co-conspirators to bring them down with him. There was evidence of monetary transactions, of the Moroi that they were taking blood from (Sydney's heart ached when she saw Clarence's name amongst them), and interaction with the Warriors. It was enough.

She set about printing paper copies of the files. Sydney would take the hard drive with her, too, but it wouldn't hurt to have physical copies in addition to the digital files. She felt tears pricking at her eyes. After a month and a half of living under the Alchemists' thumb once more, she was so, so close to freedom.

"Sydney?"

Sydney whirled around to see her father standing in the doorway. He was staring at her, face uncomprehending but suspicious. "What are you doing?"

Sydney decided to go on the offensive. "What are _you_ doing?" she demanded, brandishing some of the printed pages at him. "You're selling vampire blood! That goes against everything the Alchemists stand for!"

Jared narrowed his eyes at her and stepped forwards. "How did you know about this?" Sydney opened her mouth to deny it, but he pushed on. "It's after midnight. You crept in here after we were all asleep. You didn't just stumble on it. You came looking for it."

Sydney set her jaw. "I did know about it," she said. She stepped forward, glaring at her father. "A month and a half ago, I woke up in the past. I woke up living under the Alchemists with no way out. But I knew I just had to get back here and get evidence of your dealings and I could use that to go free."

"Woke up in the past?" repeated Jared, and scoffed. "Impossible."

" _Possible_ , with the help of magic," said Sydney forcefully. "That's right. Magic. Spirit magic, to be precise. This is how it's going to work, _Dad_ ," she said, almost spitting out the last word. "I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning. I'm going to say goodbye to Mum and Carly and Zoe – not forever, just until the next time I see them, because I will see them again. I'm going to disappear from the Alchemists radar, and you are going to keep me off the Alchemists' radar, or I'll bust you and all my friends." She smirked bitterly at him. "We'll both go to re-education, but I guarantee that I can escape re-education. Can you say the same?"

"No one can escape re-education," said Jared. "You're putting yourself on the path there, though, with this casual talk of Moroi magic and threatening a direct superior."

That's how he saw himself: as a direct superior. Not her father – a superior. It summed up Jared Sage pretty well.

" _I_ can escape re-education. I've done it before," she said, and smirked as her father's eyes widened. "Thank you, though, for the worst four months of my life. I never got the chance to say that in the other timeline. You really won Father of the Year award that year."

"Whatever I did, I would have done to save your soul," said Jared, loftily.

"Save my soul? Do you know what they do in re-education?" she demanded. Angry tears stung at her eyes, and she balled her fists, willing them back. If she cried, he would dismiss her as an overly-emotional teenage girl. She wasn't a girl, though. She was a woman grown who hadn't needed her father in years, a woman who finally understood the many ways Jared Sage had failed her.

She was a mother, and she couldn't understand how any parent could do to their child what her father had done to her.

"First they keep you in darkness for days," she continued. "No food. No clothes. Just a voice talking at you about how you _sinned_. And when you finally pass that stage – and that took me three weeks – you move on to the actual 're-education'." She took a step forward. "It's all propaganda. If you talk back, if you point out the flaws in their logic, if you do anything but parrot back the Alchemist party line, you get sent away. They make you sick for hours. They turn everyone in there – all of the _victims_ – against each other and encourage them to report infractions so that you have no support system. And that's only for the minor things. If you talk back too much, they send you for re-inking, and you come back a zombie."

"Better that than allowing you to stray from the light," said Jared. His tone was full of self-righteousness and Sydney wanted to scream.

"The light? You raised me to follow orders no matter the morality behind them. You taught me not to think for myself; to let the Alchemists think for me. Every time the tattoo gets touched up, you get compelled to follow their orders. It's _disgusting_ ," snarled Sydney. "They take away our agency without a second thought. At least the Moroi see compulsion as a taboo! You talk as if they're evil creatures of the night but at least they respect my free will!"

Her voice had risen to a shout. In the hallway, behind Jared, she could see her sisters' heads peeking out from their rooms, and at the end was her mother, staring in horror.

"That's not even going into how awful _you_ are as a father," she continued. "Your comments caused me to have an eating disorder for years so I could be as thin as a Moroi. Guess what, Dad? I'm not a Moroi. I'm human! You brought Keith Darnell into our house and -" She broke off, seeing Carly's eyes widen and her head shake. Sydney reigned in her fury. If Carly didn't want what he did known, then Sydney wouldn't betray her because she was angry. "- And you loved him more than you ever did us. You'd happily send me to re-education, to have everything that makes me _me_ dug out and replaced by Alchemist propaganda.

"I'm _done_ with you, and I'm done with the Alchemists," said Sydney, voice deadly quiet. "I have enough information to put you through everything I just described. You keep me off their radar, I won't give them what I know. You keep Zoe and Carly out, and I won't give them what I know. Do we understand each other?"

Jared was staring at her. She met his eyes with a steady gaze. She would not be backing down. She would not blink first.

At last, Jared nodded. "Understood."

* * *

The Academy's van was crowded. Adrian wasn't entirely sure how Lissa had convinced the new headmaster and Alberta that she had to go to Missoula on such short notice, and that Adrian, Christian, Jill, and Eddie all had to be part of the group, but she'd managed it somehow. He suspected that mild compulsion may have been involved.

"Is everything ready?" asked Rose in an undertone, sliding in next to Adrian.

Adrian nodded. "Sydney's going to meet us there. Just find a way to get us away from the guardians and we'll be fine." He was so, so close to seeing Sydney again.

Rose nodded. "That, I can do."

"Rose," he said, and faltered. She looked at him steadily. "Thank you for getting Sydney home early."

Rose softened, some of the hardened guardian persona giving way to his friend. "It was the least I could do," she replied. "You, Jill, Sydney – you always seem really sad. If getting Sydney back to the US and out of danger a little sooner could help, then there wasn't much of a choice."

He spent most of the drive sitting in silence. His thoughts were ahead, with the woman that was waiting for them in Missoula. There had been phone calls, and even a few dream visits when he had managed to convince her that he wasn't using too much spirit. But this was going to be real.

The only one who had any idea of exactly what he was feeling was Jill, but she was seated in the row behind him, talking quietly with Eddie. He hoped that everything worked out there. Jill and Eddie had been a good match in the last timeline, and he couldn't see why they wouldn't be now.

Since Rose and Eddie were both the same age as the rest of the teenagers, they were quickly placed on near guard duty by the other guardians. It was convenient, as they were the only ones amongst the guardians who knew the true reasons behind the trip, and it would be harder to slip near guards than far guards. Adrian followed the others into a store, and as if on an unspoken cue, Christian immediately started talking to Avery loudly and Lissa used the distraction to slip something into Adrian's hand. She flashed him a quick wink before she went to join her boyfriend and Avery.

"Get Sydney. We'll meet you downstairs," said Rose, under her breath, before she also left. Adrian opened his hand to find a silver ring. He could sense a notice-me-not compulsion on it and he slipped it on, hurrying out of the store.

He found Sydney in the bookstore. She hadn't noticed him yet. She was reading the blurb of a thick book with a photo of the Colosseum on the front, her eyebrows knit together as she concentrated. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Sydney looked up, eyes flicking around nervously, as if she had realised she was being watched. Her eyes landed on him, and her mouth opened a little. She placed the book back on the shelf and approached.

Her hand rested on his cheek, trembling a little. Her eyes were shining with tears. "You're here," she whispered. "You're really here."

He pulled her into a hug. She rested her head on his shoulder, and her chest shook under his hands. "In the flesh, Sage," he said. "I'm not leaving you ever again."

She smiled, a few, stray tears running down her face. "I'm pretty sure that would be physically impossible."

"Nope," he said. "Screw physics. I'm not going anywhere." She laughed, the sound bubbling out of her almost hysterically.

"We're free," she said, like she couldn't quite believe it. "I almost forgot what it was like."

He leant down and kissed her, softly. Her lips felt warm and familiar under his, the way she wound one hand through his hair. He had missed this, missed _her_ , like a missing limb. It felt like coming home.

She pulled away and rested her forehead against his. "Where are the others?" she asked.

Sydney Sage-Ivashkov: always on track, even in a situation like this. "Downstairs, in the carpark," he said. "They should be slipping the guardians as we speak."

She took another deep breath. "We should go to them," she said regretfully, pulling away.

Adrian sighed. "You're right, as always." She took his hand and smiled.

"As always."

The carpark was still empty when they arrived, so they leant against the Academy's van and talked about the past two months.

"So I yelled at him about awful he and the Alchemists are, and blackmailed him into letting me go," finished Sydney. She grinned up at him, and Adrian felt his breath hitch. "We're free."

Adrian leant down to kiss her, but before he could, the doors opened and the others spilled out. Avery looked confused, but not worried. That would probably change soon.

"You guys here?" called Rose, looking round the carpark. Sydney pushed herself off the van and tugged Adrian behind her, stepping out into view. Jill broke out of the group and ran towards them. Sydney let go of Adrian's hand to meet Jill halfway. The two crashed into each other and clung on, crying and laughing.

"I'm so glad you're here," Jill said, so quietly Adrian almost didn't catch it. "I'm missed you so much."

Sydney was crying. "I missed you, too, Jill."

"What's going on?" asked Avery. She looked suspicious, like she had finally caught on to the fact that she was missing something big.

Sydney let go of Jill and dug through her handbag. She pulled out a package wrapped in plain, white cloth. "I'm guessing that's Avery?" she asked Jill, who nodded.

"Who _are_ you?" demanded Avery.

Sydney held the package up. "I'm Sydney Ivashkov. I hear you've been moving in on my husband," she said. Avery gaped, and Sydney started chanting. Adrian didn't understand it, but he'd been around Sydney long enough to recognise Latin when he heard it.

Avery, who apparently was also capable of recognising threatening Latin chanting when she heard it, tried to back up, but Rose grabbed hold of her and held her in place.

"I've got her, Sydney," she said. Sydney flashed her a grin as she finished the chanting, as she unwrapped the package. The mixture inside lifted itself up and floated to Avery, showering over her.

Besides Lissa, Adrian was the only person in the group who could see exactly what was happening. Avery's aura shimmered, cycling through all the colours of the rainbow. The gold that Avery had been hiding burst into view, as did the dark shadows that Adrian usually associated with Rose. Even two bondmates apparently could not keep up with the amount of spirit darkness. The rainbow that had been flowing through Avery's aura suddenly coalesced into a solid barrier around her aura.

"It's done," he confirmed to the others.

"Let go of me," snarled Avery. Adrian could see the spirit welling up in her aura, could see her trying to force her will on to the others, but it hit the rainbow barrier and rebounded inwards. Avery's eyes widened, panic setting in. "What have you done to me?"

"Ensured that you aren't going to hurt anybody ever again," said Lissa, stepping forwards.

"Moroi magic is intrinsic," explained Sydney. "I can't stop you from using it entirely. But I could create a barrier between you and other people." Avery glowered at her.

And then the door burst open. Avery's guardian, Simon, came marching through.

"I thought she was meant to be cut off from everyone else!" exclaimed Jill. Rose and Eddie were already walking forward to engage Simon.

"This spell was designed to cut Strigoi off from compulsion. It's never been used on someone with a bond before," said Sydney. "I guess we shouldn't be surprised there were side effects."

Rose and Eddie had reached Simon. Simon swung a fist at Rose, which she dodged and caught his hand. "Trying to attack Moroi," mocked Rose, tutting. "That's not very guardian-like." Simon grunted and pulled his hand from Rose's grip, just in time to block an attack from Eddie.

Rose and Eddie were making ground on Simon when Rose blanched, face growing pale. Eddie glanced over at Rose, worried, giving Simon an opportunity to land a solid hit on Eddie that left Eddie staggering. Simon began to walk towards them again.

The doors opened, and Adrian saw the Academy's guardians enter the car park, Alberta at their hand. They took in the situation in a few seconds, and went after Simon.

But Rose beat them to it. She swung a leg around, knocking Simon's out from under him. He fell and she followed him to the ground, holding him down. "You aren't ever going to hurt Lissa," she hissed at him.

Alberta reached the two and Rose handed Simon over to her. "We have to get out of here," she said. "Right now. They're coming."

Adrian would have asked who 'they' were, but there was only one reason Rose would have stumbled in that fight, only one reason she would be as pale as she was. Alberta, however, didn't know about Rose's early warning system and stopped to ask what she meant.

Honestly, even if Alberta had given orders to evacuate immediately, it wouldn't have made much of a difference. They would have had a few extra seconds at most. Because as soon as Alberta had finished asking, a cold voice spoke up behind Adrian, all the more chilling for its familiarity.

"Hello, Roza."

* * *

Sydney had seen Strigoi before. She had even felt Strigoi fangs at her throat, certain she was about to die. Seeing a Strigoi she knew shouldn't have made so much of a difference.

Dimitri's skin was deathly pale, looking chalky under his dark brown hair. The red in his eyes made her want to throw up.

Once, she had stood beside him and listened as he pretended to be a Strigoi. That, in itself, had been awful. But seeing the real deal? It was unimaginably worse. She could barely imagine how Rose must have felt, the first time she saw him.

"I told you I'd come for you when you stepped outside the Academy's gates," said Dimitri. Rose pushed her way past the other guardians, placing herself between Dimitri and all of the Moroi. "And yet, here you are."

Rose looked him in the eye, and then punched him in the face. It was enough to spur everyone into action: the guardians moved forwards, engaging the three Strigoi that Dimitri had brought with him.

Sydney grabbed Christian's arm. "We need to subdue him before someone kills him," she said. "I'm going to throw a fireball at him. Make it surround him, okay?" Christian nodded, and she summoned the flame to her hand. She kept it in a small, tight ball, and threw it at Dimitri's feet, careful to avoid Rose. Both of them startled as the flames grew rapidly into an inferno, and suddenly Eddie was there, dragging Rose back. Christian waved his hand, and the fire surrounded Dimitri.

"Cover me!" shouted Lissa, drawing a stake from her bag. She didn't look at all capable of taking on a Strigoi, let alone Dimitri, but the look in her eyes was determined.

Rose and Eddie fell back to Lissa's side, guarding her against any Strigoi. Dimitri seemed too distracted by the flames to even notice the princess approaching, until she had grasped the stake with both hands and plunged it into his chest.

Well, sort of. The stake didn't go the entire way in. Lissa gritted her teeth and threw her entire weight behind the stake, inching it in a little further. Dimitri struggling against the stake and the flames made her job that much harder.

Sydney knew when Lissa succeeded because the room flooded with light. She felt the spirit magic flow, the feeling of life and love and laughter bursting outwards. Sydney had seen a Strigoi be restored once before. Dimitri's restoration was no less beautiful than Sonya's had been.

As the light receded, Sydney had to blink several times in order to see again. Dimitri was on the ground, his head in Lissa's lap, Rose holding his hand like it was a life line. And Dimitri was weeping.

Strigoi and guardians, however, were hard to distract. A miracle had just taken place, but the fighting restarted quickly enough. One Strigoi was staked, then a second. Eddie staked the third as he tried to approach his former boss.

"What just happened?" asked one guardian. From what Sydney could tell, she appeared to be the leader of the guardians. She went to approach Dimitri, Rose and Lissa, but Jill threw herself between them.

"He's a dhampir!" exclaimed Jill. "Lissa turned D – Guardian Belikov back into a dhampir."

"It's true," said Adrian, joining her. "I felt the spirit Lissa was wielding. It worked. Belikov's a dhampir."

"That's impossible," scoffed another guardian.

"I can run some tests," Sydney offered, slipping back into her role of professional Alchemist.

The leader focused on her. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"That's not important," said Adrian, immediately. From the way the guardian's face slackened a little, Sydney could tell that Adrian had used some mild compulsion on her. "What is important, Guardian Petrov, is that a miracle just happened. Lissa just restored a Strigoi to life. Spirit can save people from being a Strigoi! Imagine what could be done with this."

"If you can prove he really is a dhampir," said Guardian Petrov. She glanced at Dimitri, hope entering her expression.

"Take him back to the Academy," said Christian. "If he gets through the wards, then he's not a Strigoi, right?"

"Right," said Adrian. "There's your proof."

"We can't take him back to the Academy!" exclaimed one guardian, horrified. "There are children there."

"He's harmless!" snapped Adrian. "Well, as harmless as a trained guardian can be. There's no Strigoi left."

Guardian Petrov looked at Dimitri again. Sydney wasn't sure if he, Lissa or Rose had heard any part of the conversation that was going on above them. Rose and Lissa were murmuring to Dimitri in soothing tones, their words too quiet to make out.

"We'll take him back to Saint Vladimir's," she decided. "There are cells we can hold him in until we decide if he's safe." She looked at another guardian. "Call the school. Send back up. We can't transport him with the students."

Adrian slid away from the ensuing conversation and came to stand before her. "I should go back with them until we can convince them that Dimitri's a dhampir."

Sydney nodded. "I know. They need you."

It wasn't safe to kiss, not with so many unknown quantities around, but Adrian risked placing a hand on her cheek. "I'll come for you as soon as I can," he promised.

Jill approached. Her hand was twined with Eddie's, but she let go to throw her arms around Sydney. "It's not fair that you have to leave again so soon," said Jill into Sydney's hair.

"It'll be fine soon enough, Jill," said Sydney, brushing Jill's hair down. She squeezed Jill once and let go to look at Eddie.

"Did you come back, too?" she asked, uncertainly. Jill and Adrian hadn't mentioned it, and surely Eddie would have wanted to speak with her before now. But he and Jill had been holding hands…

"No," said Eddie, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry. I know we were close in your future."

"I'm going to hug you anyway," Sydney decided.

"I'm always up for a hug," agreed Eddie. Sydney wrapped her arms around Eddie and leant her head against his shoulder. Eddie was the closest thing she had ever had to a brother, and she had missed him desperately.

But time was running short, so she let go of Eddie to look back to Adrian. "I love you," she whispered, blinking back tears.

"I love you, too," said Adrian. She took his hand and stared at him, drinking him in for as long as she dared.

The arguments were dying down, though, and she reluctantly pulled away, walking away before anyone could notice her.

* * *

News of a restored Strigoi spread throughout the Moroi world in a matter of days.

Two days after Dimitri was restored, three high-ranking guardians and another two magical researchers arrived at Saint Vladimir's to investigate. With them, came the queen.

"You told me this would happen," she told Adrian, quietly. "I did not fully believe you until the news came."

"What do people think back at court?" he asked. "A lot of people were convinced it was a trick last time."

"It's the same now," said Aunt Tatiana. She looked very tired. "Others believe it. They think of Vasilisa as some kind of goddess: the princess from a dying family, working miracles that could save our species."

"They're not wrong," said Adrian. "We were getting lose to finding a vaccine last time. If we ever succeed, then it's only a matter of time before the Strigoi die out."

Tatiana stood and looked at her stone-faced guardian. "Take us to Belikov," she ordered.

Dimitri wasn't in the Academy's holding cells at that moment. It was early in the Moroi night, or early morning for the human world. The sun had risen only an hour ago, and he was sitting at a picnic table near the guardians' quarters. Lissa sat on one side of him and Rose on the other, with half a dozen of the school's guardians watching him intently.

Adrian still wasn't sure what had happened in Russia, either time, but evidently Rose had changed enough that Dimitri was not as violently opposed to seeing her as he had been last time round. Adrian had barely seen Rose or Lissa since they had returned from Missoula. Any free time they had had been spent fighting to convince others that Dimitri was no longer a Strigoi and to get him released from custody.

Tatiana swept towards the three, and several guardians followed her. Adrian rolled his eyes at them as he and Aunt Tatiana sat down across the table from the princess and guardians. Somehow, Tatiana was capable of making even the picnic table look like a throne. Lissa and Dimitri both bowed their heads.

"You're not here to yell at me again, are you?" asked Rose, looking at Tatiana dubiously. After a belated paused, she added, "Uh, Your Majesty."

"Rose!" admonished Lissa and Dimitri in unison. Rose ducked her head but Adrian spotted the smile as she did so. She had probably been playing dumb on purpose, he thought – trying to break the tension.

"Indeed not, Miss Hathaway," said Tatiana, not even bothering to conceal her amusement. "I came to talk to Mr Belikov. If you have been truly restored, then it could change our entire world, so I wished to make my own judgements." Rose bristled a little at Dimitri being addressed as 'Mr Belikov' rather than as 'Guardian Belikov', but was quelled by a sharp look from Lissa.

Dimitri bowed his head. "I am at your command, Your Majesty."

"Then we shall begin," said Tatiana, and started her interrogation.

* * *

It took another three weeks for Adrian to meet Sydney at their decided place in Maine.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked her. He didn't think he was.

"I don't think we can start living our life together unless we do this," she replied. "We need to put the other timeline to rest."

He nodded and pulled her into a hug. She clung on to him tightly, burying her face in his shoulder. They stood for several long moments before she let go.

"Here," said Sydney, handing him a charmed necklace. She put one on herself and spoke a few words in Latin. The spell was meant to turn them invisible to anyone who didn't know they were there. He had a lot of faith in Sydney's abilities, but it was a little nerve-wracking when he couldn't actually see if the spell had worked or not.

Their old house was still being lived in by the people they had bought it off, so they made their way through to the back garden as silently as they could. There was a large tree in the corner of the yard. It didn't have the tree house that it'd had in their time, but it was the only place they thought of as _Declan's_ that they could get to.

Sydney knelt at the foot of the tree and placed her hand on it. "I love you," she whispered. "I love how you'd say that every movie that wasn't animated was boring, I love how you still hadn't gotten your tongue around 'Ivashkov', I love how -" Her voice cracked. Adrian knelt beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. She took a deep breath, wiping away a tear. "I love how you always want a cuddle and insist on a story before bed." She stopped again, crying in earnest now. Adrian wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I don't know if you'll ever exist in this timeline," he said to the tree, to the life they had once built, to Declan, "but I'm always going to love you. You will always be my first child, no matter what happens in this life."

Sydney was still sniffling when she took the small plant of rosemary from her bag. She made a shallow depression in the earth with her hands and placed the rosemary in it, pushing the dirt back into place. "For remembrance," she said. "You'll always be in our hearts."

Adrian placed his hand on the rosemary plant, feeling the spirit surge through him. The plant grew in size, purple flowers blooming on it.

"Goodbye, Declan," he said. Sydney ran her hands along the plant before she let Adrian pull her to her feet.

They returned to the car. Sydney pulled away from the curb and they drove in silence.

"Do you think it ever gets easier?" she asked, at last.

"I don't know, Sage," he said, honestly. "But at least we aren't dealing with it alone anymore."

* * *

Sydney opened the door to find a crowd of faces peering back at her. Their friends had turned out in force for Sydney and Adrian's second (primarily for legal reasons, because they had never stopped considering themselves married) wedding. Rose grinned gleefully and pulled Sydney into a hug. Most of the others streamed past, greeting Sydney as they went – so far in this timeline, they largely knew Adrian rather than Sydney. She received a quick hug from Eddie as he passed. Only Jill remained on their doorstep, talking into her phone.

"Yes, I know I snuck out of Court – _yes_ , I had a very good reason, and I have Eddie and Rose and Dimitri with me, what do you think is going to happen? – Mum, I am actually twenty-one, remember, I can make my own decisions," Jill was saying. Sydney tried not to laugh at Jill, who barely looked her biological age of fifteen years. Jill looked up and smiled brilliantly at Sydney. "Gotta go! Sorry," she said into her phone, then hung up before her mother could argue.

"You snuck out of Court?" inquired Sydney, nodding at the phone Jill was putting in her pocket.

"Do you really think anyone would have let me out?" asked Jill. "Especially my mother! She keeps forgetting that I'm not fourteen."

"You certainly look the part," teased Sydney, and Jill laughed, throwing her arms around Sydney.

"I'm so glad I get to be part of this one!" exclaimed Jill. "I was still stranded in Amberwood last time."

"No Alchemists hunting us this time, so it definitely passes the bar the other timeline set," said Sydney. "And I've got everyone here this time."

Jill followed Sydney into the main part of the house. Adrian and Sydney had ended up where it had begun for them: they were living on the outskirts of Palm Springs. There was little to no chance of Strigoi attacks, and only one Alchemist to be worried about, and Sydney had more than enough blackmail on Keith.

Sydney's sisters and mother were sitting on the couch in the living room, looking mildly shell-shocked by the deluge of dhampirs and Moroi who had entered. They were tentatively beginning to accept Adrian, but this was something else. Adrian pulled out of Lissa's hug, grinning around the room. Sydney's heart seemed too big for her chest. Almost everyone she loved was in this room.

"Mrs Terwilliger's here!" said Jill, voice surprised. Sydney glanced at where Mrs Terwilliger was sitting on the love seat, peering at the newcomers like they were science experiments.

"I met up with her when we moved here," explained Sydney. "I'm spending a lot of time at Spencer's and I've been slowly but steadily befriending Trey. I'm still working on a way to get Angeline out of the Keepers, but I'll get there eventually."

"I have no doubt," said Jill. Eddie reappeared at Jill's side, sliding an arm around her waist. Sydney smiled. She was glad that they were working out in spite of the time travel shenanigans.

"I hope you're treating Jill well, Castile," she said, with mock sternness.

Jill rolled her eyes. " _No._ You're not allowed to threaten him. This isn't how the Melrose family works!"

Eddie looked bewildered. "Melrose family…?"

Adrian approached, kissing Sydney quickly on her forehead. "I believe I heard something about a Melrose family reunion?" he asked, looking at Jill.

Jill snorted. "Oh, man, there's a lot of fake family incest going on in this house," she said with a grin. "Imagine if Micah or someone had caught one of us!"

Eddie still looked lost, so Sydney took pity on him. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my sisters," she said to him. "You're pretty much the most normal person here. We'll ease them into this."

"Hey, I'm normal!" objected Jill.

"You're a magic-wielding, time-travelling, long lost princess of a dying line," deadpanned Adrian. "You're practically a comic book character." Jill frowned, but shrugged acceptingly.

"Be nice," chided Sydney, even as she felt a smile tugging at her lips.

"Always am," said Adrian, leaning down to kiss Sydney quickly. Rose wolf-whistled loudly across the room, and Dimitri tried to shush her without avail.

It wasn't where she had expected to be six months ago. It wasn't the house she had wanted or the life she had built, and the child she had raised was gone. But standing in this room, with so many of her loved ones surrounding her, Sydney was pretty sure there were worse lives she could have lived.


End file.
